Sparks
by WritingForHugs
Summary: *Set before the 74th Annual Hunger Games* Katniss discovers the true relationship between the youngest son of the baker and his mother. When he goes missing, will she be able to put her fears behind her and find and save the boy she finds she loves? COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**This story is set before the games, when Katniss and Peeta are fifteen. This idea came to me when I was at the beach with my friends, and I knew I had to write it down! I hope you enjoy it, and, as always, reviews are always appreciated! ;D**

* * *

**Apart from school** I had no connections with Peeta Mellark, the youngest son of the baker. He was a Merchant; I was a Seam 'brat'. We didn't mix.

It was during a History lesson that I remembered what happened four years ago, when I was eleven and starving. Peeta threw me bread, knowing he would get a beating for it, but he saved the lives of my family nevertheless.

"District 12's main industry is coal mining." I say, standing at the front of the class and reading out the same report that everyone else has written. Every year in History class we have to do a presentation on the history of our district, but each presentation is exactly the same. Ms Beatrice, our teacher, is at her desk beside me, but is obviously as interested in this subject as we are. My eyes graze the students sitting in front of me. Everyone is half asleep, slumped in their chairs, sweltering in the summer heat. But suddenly, among the tired and sweaty faces of my classmates, I find a pair of piercing blue eyes staring right at me from the second row of rickety wooden desks. Peeta Mellark sits back in his chair, his eyes fixed on me, a small smile on his lips. I tilt my head to one side and frown slightly.

"Thank you for that riveting presentation Katniss." Ms Beatrice says, waving her hand in my direction. The class perks up slightly, enough to realise that I'm walking back to my seat. Before I can get out of the way, Bron sticks his foot out, sending me tumbling to the floor.

"Watch where you're going Everdeen!" He shouts, causing the rest of the class to laugh. I stand and stumble to my seat in the fourth row, folding my arms across my chest and blocking out the class. I stare out of the window, watching the ground shimmer in the heat. When the bell finally rings to signal the end of the day, I stand and follow the class out of the room, heading straight for my locker.

"Hey, are you alright?" Someone asks me, catching me by surprise. I spin around to find Peeta standing behind me; school bag slung over one shoulder. "I saw you fall and was wondering if you were okay."

"If you were so worried, why did you wait until the end of class to ask me? You could have helped me when I was lying flat on my face with the entire class laughing at me." I hiss. His eyes widen and I look down. Where has this anger come from? A minute ago I was looking forward to going home with Prim before meeting Gale in the woods. And now, I'm shouting at a boy I've never spoken to before.

"Katniss, I-I'm sorry. It's just that-"

"It's just what, Peeta? Don't want to damage you're Merchant image by sticking up for a Seam brat like me?" I turn away and set off down the corridor.

"I can explain!" Peeta calls after me.

"I don't want to hear it!" I cry. I'm just about to reach the door when I feel a strong arm pull me back. "Let me go." I say, as calmly as I can.

"Not until you listen to me." Peeta says. I sigh and stare at his hand on my arm until he removes it. "I didn't help you in class, despite wanting to, because of my mother."

"Your _mother_?" I ask, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, my mother." Peeta says earnestly, his eyes locked on mine. I find it hard to look away, captivated by the sparkling depth of his eyes. "She asked Bron to keep an eye on me and my brothers, to make sure we didn't go off with someone who isn't worthy."

"Why Bron, of all people? That's just stupid, she can't control you." I say. "You try telling my mother that." Peeta scoffs. "She asked Bron because she's friends with his mother, and knew that if she bribed him with baked goods or money, he would do it without hesitation." I say nothing. That explains why Bron has put on a considerable amount of weight. "So, that's why I didn't help you."

"Why are you afraid of her?" I frown, shifting my weight onto my other foot.

"I'm not, it's just that..." Peeta trails off, looking down at his feet. "Catnip?" Gale walks down the corridor and his eyes flicker quizzingly between the baker's son and me. "Mellark, shouldn't you be baking some fairy cakes or something?" He punches Peeta lightly on the arm, a smirk on his face. Peeta winces and grits his teeth.

"I'll see you later Katniss." He says, walking away and leaving Gale and I standing by the lockers.

"Prim and Rory walked home already." Gale says. I nod, biting my lip. "What was that all about? What did Mellark want?" Gale asks.

"Why did you do that?" I ask. "He didn't do anything wrong, he was just asking if I was alright when I fell over in class!"

"Woah, Catnip, calm down! What did I do?" Gale asks, taking a step back and putting his hands up in the air.

"Mellark, shouldn't you be baking fairy cakes of something?" I mimic his low voice and punch him on the arm, rolling my eyes. "Don't be a jerk." "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Jeez." Gale walks away, shaking his head, and I sigh.

"Gale, wait up!" I say, running down the corridor. "Sorry for yelling." "Don't worry about it. This summer heat can make people do crazy things. Lets get going." Gale brushes it off, flashing me a grin. My shoulders slump in relief. A moody Gale isn't someone you want to hunt with, especially in this weather.

Gale and I bring in an unusually large amount of kills for this time of year, when the hot sun tends to send any prey into the hiding in the shade.

"How on earth did you two manage to get so much?" Greasy Sae asks us when we enter the Hob late afternoon.

"I have no idea. We just got lucky, I guess." Gale shrugs. Sae pays a good amount for two plump rabbits and two turkeys, and then we head to our prime buyers scattered around the district. After visiting the Undersee's house and selling Madge our bounty of strawberries, Gale departs from me.

"I promised Mum that I would take Rory and Vick into town. Posy doesn't cope in the heat, so Mum is staying at home to look after her." He apologises. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye." I say, watching him walk away. "I'll drop by with your share of money later on!"

"Alright! See ya!" Gale calls, walking away down the dry mud road, his boots kicking dust up into the air. I turn on my heel and walk towards the bakery. Mr Mellark always buys squirrels from me, exchanging even the scrawny ones for loaves of bread. I knock lightly on the pale wooden door, the paint peeling, and wait until the door is opened.

"Katniss, fancy seeing you here." Mr Mellark greets me. "How many do you have for me?"

"Eight squirrels today." I say, pulling the animals out and handing them to him.

"Eight?" The baker exclaims. "Well, that surely means six loaves of bread and something sweet!"

"You don't have to-"

"Really, I insist. I'll just go and get them." I nod my head and watch the older man disappear into the shop. I watch the Mellark's pig dig up the ground in its pen and jump in surprise when a loud shout breaks the tranquil silence.

"You stupid, stupid boy! How could have dropped those again?" An angry voice screams, causing me to peer into the shadows of the bakery.

"Mum! I'm sorry, they just slipped!" Someone else says back. I frown and then realise that it's Peeta apologising. Two loud slapping sounds are heard and I wince at each one.

"Aymee! Stop it! It was an accident!" I hear Mr Mellark shouting. "Peeta, take this to the back." I step back from the doorway and see Peeta walk into the kitchen, loaves of bread in paper bags in his arms. "Katniss?" Peeta asks. Although he's standing in the shadow of the doorway, I can still see his shockingly blue eyes widen at the sight of me.

"Hi." I say quietly.

"Here's the bread." He says, leaning against the door.

"Thanks." I say. This whole situation if awkward. "I'm sorry about shouting at you."

"I'm sorry you had to witness...that." Peeta says. I shift my weight again. "What happened? I couldn't see anything."

"Good. You wouldn't have liked it." Peeta mutters.

"Peeta, come here, into the light." I say, reaching out a hand.

"No, Katniss. You don't want-"

"Come here." I say, stepping forward and grabbing his arm. I pull him into the light and gasp, causing Peeta to drop his head. "Oh, Peeta." I whisper. Bright red handprints mark both his cheeks. His mother slapped him.

"So now you know why I couldn't stick up for you in front of everyone." Peeta says bitterly. "But it would be a lot worse than this." He looks up at me, wincing when my grip of his arm tightens. I frown and step towards him, pushing the sleeves of shirt up his arm as gently as I can. "Don't Katniss." Peeta half begs. I continue pushing it up to his shoulder; only to reveal more hand marks littered among burn scars all over his arm. No wonder he winced when Gale punched him on the arm.

"Peeta! I'm sorry." I say, pulling his sleeve back down and throwing my arms around him. He stiffens for a moment before relaxing, bringing his arms around me.

"Don't worry. You should probably get going. I don't want my mother to find you." Peeta mumbles into my shoulder. I pull away and pick up the paper bag I've placed on the floor.

"I'll see you tomorrow Peeta." I say, turning and walking away. When I reach the end of the road, I turn and see that Peeta is still standing in the doorway. I walk away, a smile on my face.


	2. Chapter 2

**I signed into my Fanfiction account and saw that I had four reviews for this story! I literally freaked out when I read them, and even though there were only four, I danced around the room with a silly grin on my face… So yeah… **

**Oh, and someone told me that I should have written 'Mom' instead of 'Mum', but I'm from England, so I find it easier to say 'Mum'. (Sorry for being awkward :3)**

**Anyway, here is next chapter of Sparks. I hope you enjoy it! :D **

**Peeta Mellark stays **in my mind for the rest of the evening. I find that I can't sleep; tossing and turning so much that Prim threatens to push me out onto the floor if I wake her again.

The marks on his arms weren't just from accidents; his mother had inflicted them on him. I can't imagine Peeta's father harming his son intentionally.

'No, he would never do that. He's too kind.'I think to myself. Peeta obviously takes after his father. The way he cares for his family, his home and, once upon a time, me. He wouldn't have thrown me those two life-saving loaves unless he had cared about me.

_Stop! Stop it now! _

I feel my cheeks redden. I need to stop thinking about this boy. People like this have a tendency to root themselves into my heart and stay there. I can't bear to see those people in pain. I just can't.

"Oh for goodness sake Katniss!" Prim half whispers, half hisses at me.

"I'm sorry, I'll go to sleep now." I apologise.

"Screw that, I'm sleeping with Mum." Prim mutters.

"Prim! Language!" I say.

"Sorry." I can imagine my younger sister rolling her eyes in the darkness. For eleven, she sure knows how to speak her mind. Once my sister as settled herself in bed with Mum, I climb out from the blankets, slip on my father's hunting boots and wrap a coat around my body, hiding my patched-up pyjamas.

The night air is muggy, cooler than the fiery heat of daytime, but thick and humid. I walk down the worn dirt track, passing the silent houses of the Seam. From the position of the moon in the dark night sky, I estimate it to be about five a.m. I amble along with no desire to go to a certain place, I just want to get some fresh air and clear my head. Peeta Mellark. The baker's son. A Merchant. I groan in frustration. How do I feel about this boy?

"Oh for goodness sake Katniss! Get a grip!" I say out loud, before clapping my hand over my mouth and looking around, checking that no one has heard me. Everything is silent. I remove my hand.

I sit on a fallen tree at the edge of the Seam to collect my thoughts. Who can I talk to about this? I laugh at the thought of talking to Gale about how I feel. His face would be priceless, his discomfort even more so, but I wouldn't feel comfortable with it anyway. My mother and Prim are out of the question. Prim is way to young to understand, and my mother, well, she wouldn't listen to me. Madge could be a possible choice, but I've never really spoken to her about anything like this. Heck, we've hardly spoken at all!

Standing up from the contorted bark of the tree, I continue my aimless walk through District 12. A light breeze starts to blow, causing the strands of hair that have escaped my braid to flutter in the wind.

I find myself in the Merchant part of town. The Mellark bakery is just down the street. I can see that it's basked in a golden glow from the ovens as they start the day early, catering for the miners who wake early for work. I find the idea of walking down there very inviting, but what would they think of me wandering around the district at night in my pyjamas?

"Well, hello there!" A deep voice slurs from behind me. I turn and to my horror, I find Head Peacekeeper Cray standing in the doorway of his house, bottle in hand. I squint into the darkness and see the shape of a girl shuffling away from the evil man. I shudder. Everyone knows what goes on in that building. No one stops it though. He's the Head Peacekeeper after all, and nobody tells on someone who could have you shot with the wave of a hand.

"Hello Mr Cray, sir." I say politely, wrapping my coat tighter around my body.

"What is a girl like _you_ doing outside at a time like _this_?" Cray asks, scratching at the stubble on his neck.

"I'm just getting some fresh air and exercise before the sun comes out." I say quickly.

"I don't know about fresh air, but I could give you quite the workout, if you're up to it." Cray says. I feel my jaw fall slack and my skin begins to prickle in disgust.

"Not tonight, sir."

"Oh, are you sure?" Cray says. I nod. I wish I wasn't so close to him. Two meters isn't a big enough distance from the man. I can smell the pungent stench of alcohol and have to fight the urge to throw up right there on the pavement. "Absolutely positive?" He continues.

"Yes sir. I'm positive." I say. "Goodnight." I start to turn away and feel a hand on my arm, pulling me back. I squeal and try to pull away but Cray is too strong.

"You don't want to say no to me, young lady." Cray hisses, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me. I can feel his hot breath on my neck as he chuckles. "Feisty, are we?"

"Help me! Someone help me!" I shriek, causing Cray to slap a hand over my mouth.

"Shh, don't make a sound." Cray instructs me. I freeze, my heart thumping erratically in my chest, my eyes wide in panic. "You know, I've seen you around town and always thought you were pretty." I whimper as his hand roams down my chest, tensing up when he begins to pull away my coat. I fight the urge to kick him and get away, knowing that he's stronger than me and would come after me if I did get away. My already jumpy breathing speeds up when his rough fingers make contact with the skin on my stomach.

"Hey! Katniss! Is that you?" Someone shouts from further down the street. My head whips up and I stare desperately into the darkness. Peeta is standing a few houses away, his face a mixture of fear, confusion and anger. He's already wearing an apron I notice, ready to begin work.

"Go home boy! This is not your business!" Cray shouts at him.

"It isn't Katniss' business either!" Peeta says, walking towards us, his eyes locked on mine. "Come on Cray, you know she won't co-operate. She doesn't want this."

"Go home." Cray says, his grip on me tightening. A frightened whimper escapes my lips. "Shut up you!" Cray hisses at me.

"Think about it Mr Cray, sir." Peeta reasons. Cray pauses, spins me around and licks his lips, his sweaty face inches from mine.

"You'll come back. When winter arrives you'll be back for sure." He pushes me away and returns to his house, slamming his door. I collapse onto the dusty street, the tears I was trying to hold in flooding down my cheeks.

"Hey, come on. It's alright." Peeta says hurriedly, running toward me and taking my hand. I open my mouth to speak but a strangled cry replaces my words. I pull my coat around me with shaking hands, my vision blurring. I flinch when Peeta brushes away the tears that are dampening my cheeks. "I'm not going to hurt you." He says softly.

"He just- just…" I struggle to continue.

"Come with me. You don't want to be sitting on the floor outside _his_ house, do you?" I shake my head and Peeta helps me up, putting an arm around me and guiding me down the street.

"I can't go in there! Not like this!" I say when I realise that Peeta is heading straight for the bakery.

"It's fine, honest. My father won't mind." I look up at him and try to breath properly and make myself look as presentable as I can before entering the bakery through the back door. The bakery kitchen is basked in the glow of the ovens and I can feel the heat radiating off the flames the minute I step over the threshold.

"Peeta, how long does it take you to put the trash in the bin?" Mr Mellark says, turning from a large wooden table to face us. His eyes widen when he sees me. "What's happened?"

"Cray." Peeta says simply. "He grabbed her."

"Would you like to sit down?" Peeta's father asks, not waiting for an answer. He pulls out a stool and I sit on it, wiping my eyes.

"Katniss, tell me what happened." Peeta instructs, leaning against the table.

"I couldn't sleep so I went outside for some fresh air and when I walked past Cray's house he grabbed me and… and…" I trail off, hugging myself and looking down. Shame threatens to engulf me.

"Are you alright? He didn't do anything to you did he?" Peeta asks, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You got there just in time." I admit.

"Well done son." Mr Mellark says. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to anyone else, would we?" I stay silent. "I'll be at the front if you need me." He says, exiting the room.

"Thank you Peeta." I say, looking up my saviour.

"You're welcome Katniss." Peeta replies, a small, but pained smile appearing on his lips.

"Why did you do that?" I ask. "If it had been anyone else they would have just ignored it, continued on with whatever they were doing."

"I guess I'm not like everyone else." Peeta says. I smile up at him. "But I've seen so many girls outside that damned house. So many broken girls." He pauses, shaking his head. "Yet they go back time and time again."

"They have to. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to eat." I say.

"Would you ever do that? Give yourself up to that revolting man?" Peeta asks. I feel a burning blush prickle over my cheeks. "You haven't done it before have you?"

"No, no. I haven't." I say quietly. Peeta lets out a breath. "But I'm not gonna lie. I've considered it."

"Katniss, you can't!" Peeta says this with such passion that I sit up with surprise.

"You know when I first thought about it?" I ask him. He shrugs. "When I was eleven. In the months after my father died."

"You were _eleven_ Katniss!"

"I'm not proud of it." I say. "And you know what saved me?" Peeta shakes his head. "The bread that you threw me."

"You remember that?" Peeta asks, staring down at me in astonishment.

"Of course I do. You saved my life, and Prim's. And my mother's."

"Have you considered _it_ since then?"

"Of course I have, every winter." I admit. "I struggle to feed my family."

"I'm sorry, Katniss. Really, I am."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it." I say. Peeta smiles ruefully at me and I press my lips together. "Do you wake up this early _every_ morning?" I ask, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Everyday except Sundays." Peeta says, almost with pride.

"I wouldn't be able to do that." I say. Peeta laughs.

"You get used to it." He says. "Just like you probably get used to treading quietly in the forest when you go hunting."

"How did you know that I hunt?" I ask stupidly.

"I eat the squirrels that you shoot. Always through the eye."

"I've gotten better with practice." I say. My eyes flicker to the clock on the wall of the kitchen. "Oh god!" I say, standing up.

"What is it?" Peeta asks.

"I need to get home before Prim wakes up." I say.

"Take something with you." Peeta says, quickly grabbing a paper bag and putting a fresh loaf of bread in it.

"I can't take that. I can't pay you with anything." I say, heading for the door.

"It's fine." Peeta says. I stare at the bag in his arms, my stomach growling as the smell of freshly baked bread wafts into my nose.

"Alright, but I'm going to pay you back with something." I persist.

"If you must." Peeta says, pushing the bag into my arms. I hesitate, staring at the boy who has saved my twice already, jumping when Mr Mellark bursts into the room.

"Your mother is coming." He says, standing in the doorway. I look up at the ceiling when I hear a floorboard creak.

"I'll see you at school Peeta, and thanks for the bread."

"I expect a squirrel in return." Peeta laughs quietly.

"I'll make sure I shoot one." I promise. Peeta's eyes widen when the wooden stairs creak, signalling the arrival of his mother.

"Go Katniss, quickly." Peeta says, pushing open the door.

"Don't let her hurt you." I whisper to him. He stays silent, biting his lip. I place a reassuring hand on his arm before turning and hurrying down the street, the orange glow of the sun rising over the mountains brightening the street. I can still feel Peeta's strong arm around me, his eyes fixed on me as he reasoned with Cray. My stomach fills with nervous butterflies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you, thank you, and thank you for those who have reviewed so far! And those who didn't, eh, I'll live :D (maybe) I'm such a weird writer. I mean, come on. Who else writes the fourth and fifth chapter before the second? It just doesn't make sense. Ah well. Thank you _veronique2 _for your view on the last chapter. ANYWAY. (Enough of my rambling) Enjoy this chapter of _Sparks…._**

***Update * I changed the rating from K+ to T, just in case. **

"**I honestly think **you've gone crazy." Prim says to me at breakfast.

"And why do you think that?" I ask, jabbing her playfully in the ribs.

"Because firstly, I woke you up instead of you waking me up."

"Yeah-"

"I haven't finished." Prim tells me. I wave my hand, inviting her to speak. "I heard you talking in your sleep." I freeze.

"What did I say?" I say.

"You said quite a few things actually."

"Tell me!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Prim says. I take her empty plate and put it in a pile by the sink. "You kept saying 'Stop it! Let me go!' and then you said 'Peeta' over and over again. It was quite funny really."

"Well, I don't know why I was saying that. I didn't have a dream." Prim smiles at me and goes off to feed Lady, leaving me standing in the kitchen. I did have a dream, well; it was a nightmare to start of with. I dreamt about Cray and his roaming hands and almost woke up in fright. But then I dreamt about Peeta and his loving gaze. I still can't believe he stopped the Head Peacekeeper and helped me. I smile to myself. I only fell asleep for about an hour after leaving the bakery, but felt glad that waking up meant going to school. And seeing Peeta.

"Katniss, why are you in such a rush to get to school?" Prim complains as I walk swiftly through the Seam.

"I'm not, you're just walking slow today." I say. Prim sighs and continues to stumble on behind me, kicking up dust from the path. I slow down once the school gates come into view, much to Prim's relief. I stop once we reach the school entrance, suddenly nervous. I feel like a six-year-old schoolgirl on her first day, not a fifteen-year-old girl with a silly crush on a boy in her year. My cheeks burn.

_I don't have a crush on him. I barely even know him._

"Katniss, are you going in or standing outside collecting dust?" Prim asks me, snapping my out of my daze.

"No, no. I'm coming." I say.

"Are you sure you're alright? You've been acting really weird lately." Prim observes.

"Prim, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." I say, smiling reassuringly at her. She rolls her eyes. I raise an eyebrow. "I'll see you later, Little Duck." I call after her; she waves slightly and runs across the playground towards her group of friends. She sticks out from the group with her blonde hair and blue eyes, the rest of the girls have dark hair and grey eyes. I walk forward, keeping my head down, and sit on a low wall at the edge of the playground. I take in everything in front of me, letting myself blend into the background like I do every morning. It's much easier to ignore everyone, because then I don't have to get involved in arguments. Not that anyone notices me, of course.

There is a clear divide between the pupils of the school. The Merchants stay on one side of the playground, and the Seam kids stay on the other. It's better that way, trust me. I think back to a couple of years ago, when Sammy Collins, a Seam boy, kicked a ball over onto the Merchant side by accident and went to retrieve it. I can remember how quiet the entire courtyard got, the Seam kids staring at him, the Merchants gaping as he got closer to them. He seemed to notice the Merchant's horror at having a Seam brat like him on their side, so started dancing animatedly on their turf, before throwing the ball back to his friends. He stayed on the Merchant's side for the rest of break, pretending to be a goalkeeper.

That was good day.

I blink when I realise that someone is walking towards me. I look up and see Peeta striding towards me, schoolbook in hand. I straighten my back, slightly bewildered.

"Hey! Peeta! What are you doing?" One of his friends shouts after him.

"I just need to talk to someone." He calls back. He steps over to the Seam side.

"Hi, again." I say quietly when he stops in front of me. He turns to look at me and I bite my lip, standing up. He's sporting a black eye.

"Hey." He says, seemingly oblivious to the stares of our fellow classmates. I uncross and cross my legs. I have noticed. "Are you alright? You know, after last night and all."

"I'm fine, thanks to you."

"You sure?" I nod.

"Thank you, Peeta." I say. He smiles, his blue eyes shining. "For everything."

"Sure, anytime." He says.

"What happened with your eye?" I ask. Peeta's face falls.

"Oh, this?" He points up at it.

"Yes, your black eye." I say sarcastically, he grins in return.

"I thought you wouldn't notice." I raise an eyebrow. "I got into a fight with my brother, and, well… I lost." He smiles yet again but it doesn't reach his eyes, proving that he was hiding something from me.

"Tell me the truth." I say. "Was it your mother?"

"Shh!" Peeta says, taking my arm and dragging me over to the corner. My eyes widen at his hand on my arm, and I stumble clumsily after him.

"Sorry." I mumble. He sighs. "But was it your mother?"

"Yes. It was her." He remarks.

"Why?" I ask softly bringing my hand up to touch his cheek.

"She saw you leaving and thought I was giving you free food." Peeta says, looking down as if he's ashamed of what he's done for me.

"But you did." I say.

"I know."

"Did you explain everything to her?" I ask.

"No."

"Why?"

"Katniss, really. How do you think my mother would react if I told her that I saved you from being raped by Cray and thought giving you a loaf of bread would do no harm?" Peeta hisses, looking around when his friends call for him again. I flinch at how easily he talks about it. "I'm sorry." He says, noticing my face.

"You shouldn't be apologizing." I say quietly. "I was the reason she hit you."

"Don't blame yourself." Peeta says. "But Katniss, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a bit shaken up." I say hastily. "But Peeta, you can't let her do that to you and you need to put something on that."

"I'll be fine. I'm used to it." Peeta brushes it off.

"That's an awful thing to get used to." I say.

"Well, there isn't much I can do about it, is there?" Peeta says brusquely. I stay silent.

"Your friends are calling you. You better go before they throw a tantrum." I say, attempting to lighten the mood. Thankfully Peeta laughs.

"I'd love to say that they aren't that bad, but that would be a lie." He chuckles. I feel grin appear on my lips. "I'd much rather spend time with you." He admits, rather sheepishly.

"I'll try and fit you into my busy schedule." I beam.

"You should smile more Katniss." Peeta says suddenly, causing me to blush at his sudden and unexpected compliment. "See you around." He adds. I stare, open-mouthed as he turns and walks away, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I can't help but grin giddily for the next few lessons.

I ignore the whispers as best as I can for the rest of the day, but when two Merchant girls confront me during a lesson, I can't help but wonder what everyone thought of Peeta and mine's conversation that morning.

"Hey, Everdeen." A Merchant girl whispers from her seat in front of me. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I ask. The Merchant girls, who I recognize as being called Lilia and Valerie, roll their eyes.

"That you sold yourself to Cray and Mellark rescued you?" Lilia asks. My eyes widen. How did they know?

"Why would he rescue me if I was selling myself?" I ask. Their eyes widen.

"So you _did _sell yourself?" Valerie asks in a hushed tone.

"No. I wouldn't do something like that." I say.

"Oh." Lilia says, glancing at her friend.

"Why do you want to know?" I ask.

"Because-" Valerie says sarcastically, flipping her curled over her shoulder. "If that's true, the other rumours _must _be true."

"What other rumours?" I ask.

"That you and Mellark hooked up and now you're a pariah because you're pregnant. Does Hawthorne know?" My mouth drops open.

"I don't know how you heard… _that_… but it certainly isn't true!" I hiss.

"Which part? The kid part, or the Hawthorne not knowing part?" Lilia persists.

"None of it is true!" I snap. "I'm not pregnant and Peeta and I never hooked up."

"Did he rescue you from Cray?" Valerie asks, her eyes wide.

"That's none of your business!" I say. The two girls turn back to their desk, whispering excitedly. I slump back in my seat and fold my arms. How could anyone know about last night? I don't recall anyone being in the street, except for the previous customer of Cray and Peeta down the road. I shake my head. The girl I saw wouldn't say anything, would she? What would she be getting out of it? Peeta would never say anything. I mull this over throughout the lesson, hardly focusing on my work, not even bothering to tell my staring classmates to stop being rude.

When the bell finally rings to signal lunchtime, I stand, my seat scraping over the uneven floor as I march to the front of the room and hand over my workbook.

"Katniss, you haven't done much work." The teacher says.

"I'm sorry Miss, but I was kind of distracted. I'll finish the sheet next lesson, I promise." I say. The teacher frowns.

"Wait here, until all of the other kids have gone." I sigh and stand to the side, watching as my classmates file out of the room, laughing and joking. "Now then, Miss Everdeen." The teacher starts. I groan inwardly. You know you're in trouble when they call you by your surname. "I'm not one to believe rumours, but some of the things circulating around school and town haven't been particularly… nice."

"They aren't true. I didn't sell myself, nor am I pregnant." I say firmly.

"Okay, I'm not saying I don't believe you, but why do you think these rumours have started?"

"I have no idea." I say.

"Really?"

"Really." The teacher just stares at me. I begin to fidget. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, but Katniss." I pause from walking away and turn to face her. "Don't let anyone accuse you of anything. You're a bright girl. I expect the worksheet to be completed next lesson."

"I won't let you down." I say, forcing a smile onto my face.

"Off you go." She waves her hand and I walk out of the classroom as calmly as I can. I can feel my anger growing, as I get closer to the cafeteria. Once I enter the cafeteria, my anger is replaced by self-consciousness. The whispers and stares are even worse when it's half the school against you. I walk to my usual seat. Madge is waiting for me.

"It isn't true, is it?" She asks me, looking up from her container of strawberries.

"Hello to you too Madge." I say, sitting down opposite her. "And no, none of it is true."

"Okay." Madge says. "I just wanted to check, because, you know, when everyone is talking about you, you don't know what to believe."

"Everyone?" I ask. Madge looks back down at her meal, knowing she's said the wrong thing. "Oh, great." I say, holding my head in my hands.

"Not everyone… just..." I look up and my friend grimaces. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth."

"Yay." I say unenthusiastically.

"It's mainly the girls gossiping. The boys are seemingly unfazed by it, but if it was true and they knew it, then it would cause quite the uproar." I look over to Peeta's table and find him sitting there, mid-laugh, as he unsuccessfully throws grapes into his friend's mouth. "Marlene Redwood, the daughter of the cooper, is apparently in tears. She thought that Peeta fancied her, and that they were going to get married. I guess her dreams have been shattered." Madge smiles faintly, as if she finds this funny.

"Does Peeta fancy her?" I ask.

"No. I know for a fact that he detests her." Madge grins. I grin back.

"I'm just gonna try to ignore everyone."

"You always do Katniss." Madge smiles. "Wanna strawberry?" She holds the container out and I take one. "But if I were you, I would freak out with all these people staring at me." I look around and find that she's right.

"Do they have no shame?" I ask.

"Most of them don't." Madge says. "Are you going to talk to Peeta about this?"

"If I can get him alone I will." I say.

"If you can get him alone?" Madge asks incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"Not like that!" I hiss at her, causing her to laugh. She shakes her head, her light laughter bringing a smile to my face. Our friendly conversation is brought down from it's high with the arrival of a group of Merchant girls. I suddenly feel very out of place with all these blondes around our table. I'm suddenly very aware of my patched up clothes and greasy hair.

"Hello." Madge says. "Katniss, this is Marlene, Valerie, Lilia, Kaytee, Scarlet, Jennie and Florence." I look around at the girls, though they could all be called Marlene or Scarlet for all I know. They all look the same. The same style of dress, the same hair and makeup. I roll my eyes. Madge clears her throat.

"You're a real brat, Katniss." Kaytee says harshly. "Poor Marlene here was due to get married to Peeta, and now you've gone and ruined it all for her."

"I hope you're happy." Scarlet adds.

"Well, from what I've heard, you were never due to get married to Peeta, you just thought you were." I say. Marlene, who I can easily pick out from the group with her makeup smudged with tears, sobs even louder, causing her cronies to huddle around her.

"Just because you want to be living in a nice section of town like we do, it doesn't mean you have to get knocked up by a Merchant so he has no choice but to marry you." Scarlet says, narrowing her eyes at me.

"You do realise that the rumours that you're basing this on aren't true, don't you?" I say, pretending to laugh in disbelief.

"We know they're true. Besides, why would Peeta lie to us?" With that the group walk away, leaving Madge and I in shock.

"What did they just say?" Madge asks me, staring as the girls walk away.

"That Peeta wouldn't lie to them." I say, my anger returning.

"You don't actually think he told them _that_, do you?" Madge whispers.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." I say, standing and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"Katniss, think about this." Madge says. "Wouldn't it be wiser to talk to him without the entire school listening in?"

"I guess I'm not very wise then." I say, walking away.

"What happened to ignoring everyone?" Madge calls after me.

"I don't care anymore." I call back to her.

I can feel the patronizing stares of fellow students locked on me as I walk down the aisle of tables, towards Peeta. Questioning whispers ensue.

"I heard she only slept with him so she could live in the Merchant area of town."

"Look, it's the Seam slut!" I grit my teeth and march straight over to Peeta's table. He's facing away from me, so his friends see me coming over first, and begin nudging each other and laughing.

"Woah, Peeta! Watch out!"

"I think your girlfriend's having a mood swing already!" Peeta turns around and sees me standing behind him. His face falls when he sees my expression.

"Hey, Katniss. What's up?" He asks.

"Don't 'hey Katniss' me." I say, earning a loud 'oooo' from Peeta's friends.

"What? I'm confused." Peeta says, turning his body to face me.

"I'm confused as hell as to why you told everyone I was knocked up!" I tell him. Yet again his friends laugh, but Peeta just sits there, lines appearing on his forehead as he frowns.

"What are you on about? I never said anything." Peeta says, looking around at his friends. They all shrug.

"Is there something you aren't telling us Peeta?" One of his mates asks.

"Christ! You're only 15!" Another says.

"Shut up guys." Peeta tells them, standing up and facing me again.

"Why did you do that?" I ask. I don't realise that I'm crying until Peeta wipes a tear away from my cheek. I brush his hand away. "I thought I could trust you! I thought you weren't the type to do that!" Peeta looks around, realising that three-quarters of the cafeteria are listening in.

"So, you saved her, knocked her up, and told everyone without consulting her?" His friend asks.

"Shut up!" I shout at him, stepping forward. Peeta grabs my arms and holds me back.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Jeez." His friend says.

"Seriously Mitch, knock it off." Peeta says. "What are you talking about?" Peeta asks me, keeping his voice down.

"Everyone is saying that you knocked me up, and that I only did it to live in the Merchant's area of town and they all know about Cray!" I say, bringing my hands up to my mouth and fighting the urge to cry. "Did you tell anyone?"

"No! Of course not! I would never do that." Peeta says, his blue eyes wide.

"Then who did?" I exclaim, my voice raising an octave. I can't let Prim know about these vicious rumours, or let it ruin my hunting business. My mother has already made people wary of my family, and me being known as a pariah wouldn't do us any good.

"I don't know!" Peeta says. I can tell he's also trying not to panic.

"Everyone thinks I slept with you!" I say. "They think I'm a slut!"

"Katniss, calm down. You don't normally react to this kind of stuff like this, do you?"

"This has never happened to me before!" I hiss.

"Look, we'll get to the bottom of this and sort everything out." Peeta says earnestly, taking my hands in his and squeezing them. "Now, stop crying. You'll make me look bad."

"I think we look bad enough." I say.

"It couldn't get any worse, could it?" Peeta says grimly. "Do you wanna skip class? We can find out how these rumours started."

"Won't we get in trouble?" I ask.

"Guys, listen." Peeta says, turning and facing his friends, who are listening in to our conversation as best as they can. "I'm going home with Katniss to sort this out."

"Is that a good idea?" Mitch asks. "You two skipping school together?"

"Right now I'm not bothered." Peeta says. "But can you lot do me a favour?"

"What is it?" Mitch asks.

"Tell my teacher that I felt ill and went home."

"What about her?"

"She has a name you know."

"Okay, what about Katniss?"

"I'll talk to Undersee." Peeta says, grabbing his bag. "Can you do that for me?"

"Sure buddy." Mitch says, slapping Peeta on the shoulder. Peeta smiles gratefully and motions for me to follow me down the cafeteria to the table I was previously sitting at.

"Katniss! Are you alright?" Madge asks, noticing my teary eyes.

"I'm fine. But I'm skipping class to find out what caused these rumours with Peeta. Can you say I fell ill? Please?"

"Of course." Madge says.

"Thank you." I say, smiling through my tears. I wipe them away with my hand.

Peeta and I escape from the school grounds and head straight to his house.

"Wait, wont your parents be home?" I ask.

"No one's home Katniss. My brothers are in school, my Dad is collecting orders at the train station and my mother is out with friends." Peeta explains. I nod and follow him into his house. Peeta hands me a tissue once we enter the bakery kitchen, and I wipe my eyes and nose.

"I'm sorry for crying and making a fuss." I sniff. "I don't know what came over me."

"You reacted exactly how anyone else would." Peeta reassures me. "Do you want something to eat?" I nod, my stomach rumbling after having nothing for lunch except for a strawberry. I watch as Peeta slices a loaf of bread, noticing small details about him that I never noticed previously. His eyelashes, normally invisible, but in the sunlight streaming through the window, they are so long I wonder how they don't get tangled up each time he blinks. His hair isn't just blonde; it's a mix of golden hues and browns. His eyes aren't just blue; they are sky blue with tiny flecks of dark blue and pale green. He's well built, his shoulders and chest are broad, and his arms muscular from hours spent wrestling and lifting bags of flour.

"Enjoying the view?" Peeta asks.

"Huh?" I ask.

"You were staring at me."

"Sorry."

"No, continue. I know I'm god-like." Peeta jokes, handing me some buttered bread. I eat it, a smile playing on my lips, noticing that the bread it slightly stale. Once I've finished, I follow Peeta up a flight of wooden stairs and find myself sitting on his bed. "It isn't much, but it's mine." Peeta shrugs as I gaze around the small room.

"No, it's lovely. Your whole house is lovely." I breathe.

"Now, down to business." Peeta says. My shoulders slump.

"Do we have to talk about this?"

"What would you rather do?" Peeta asks. _I'd love to kiss you. _I think to myself, my cheeks warming.

"Anything." I smile. Peeta sighs, but grins all the same.

"I don't know how this could have happened." Peeta says.

"Me neither."

"Maybe it was some of my neighbours, or Cray himself. You know how he gets when he's drunk. Walking around the district talking about people." I nod solemnly.

"Don't be offended, but you don't think it was your mother, do you?"

"It's a possibility." Peeta sighs. He opens his mouth to talk again when I hear a loud bang downstairs. Peeta stands, holds a finger to his lips, asking me to say quiet, and creeps down the hallway. He's gone for about a minute, so I stand and follow him. I see him standing at the top of the stairs.

"Peeta?" I whisper. He jumps, unaware that I was right behind him. I forget about how quiet I can be when I need to be, and sneaking up on people is easy.

"Jesus Christ Katniss!" He says, turning around to face me.

"Sorry." He opens a door to my left and pushes me inside, closing the door behind himself. I look around and see that we're in a linen closet. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"My mother is back!" Peeta says hurriedly.

"What?" I exclaim, clamping my hand over my mouth.

"She must be showing off her china to her friends or something." Peeta says. "What are we going to do?" I ask.

"We need an escape plan." Peeta says, running a hand through his hair. He thinks for a moment before answering. "Okay, listen carefully. We'll listen in for a while and then creep down the stairs, which you seem to be very good at, and exit through the front of the shop."

"Won't your mother see us?" I ask.

"No, there's a curtain separating the kitchen from the stairs." Peeta says. I nod. He pushes open the door and steps out. I follow and we crouch at the top of the stairs.

"You'll never guess what Marjorie told me." I hear Peeta's mother say.

"Marjorie is in the house opposite ours." Peeta whispers.

"She told me that she Peeta with that Everdeen girl last night through her bedroom window!" I bite my lip. "She said that she them two kissing and then the Seam girl ran off with a loaf of bread."

"They never!" Mrs Mellark's friend gasps.

"Oh, but that isn't the end of it. She said she saw her holding her stomach, and Peeta touching her stomach. Marjorie says she thinks the girl is pregnant! And of course, I have to believe Marjorie. After all she was a midwife!"

"Who's the father?"

"She thinks it either Gale Hawthorne, or Peeta."

"Hawthorne? Isn't he her cousin?"

"All the Seam brats are related. They're all inbred. Disgusting." Peeta tenses up beside me.

"What are you going to do?" Mrs Mellark's friend asks.

"Well, if Peeta is the father, he's going to get the beating of his life!"

"Teach him a lesson!" I look over at Peeta, who is hanging his head. I place a hand on his shoulder and smile at him. He grimaces.

"And with the girl, well, if I see her again, I'll give her a piece of my mind! I'm not supporting a bastard child. I'll get rid of it myself if I have to." My jaw falls slack. I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"Lets go Katniss." Peeta says. I follow him silently down the stairs, through the shop at the front of the house, and into the street. Then we run, as fast as we can away from the building. We reach the Seam and stop, catching our breaths.

"I'm so sorry Peeta."

"I'm sorry you had to see that side of her."

"I didn't know she had another side." I clamp my hand over my mouth again, realising what I've just said.

"Thank you for saying that." Peeta grins. I laugh along with him.

"What are we going to do?" I ask.

"I don't know. But I'm going to sort things out with my mother."

"She'll hit you, Peeta." I say, staring up at him.

"I won't let her. Besides, my father will want to hear my side of the story, and he doesn't let my mother beat me."

"How does she manage to hit you then?"

"My father isn't always at the bakery Katniss." Peeta says.

"Oh." I all I can say. "I'm going to hug you now." I say.

"Okay." Peeta whispers. I put my arms around him and inhale his scent. He smells of freshly baked bread, cookies and flour. "We'll be alright." Peeta mumbles into my ear. I pull away and find my face to be inches from Peeta's. He stares at me, his arms loosening around me. I lean forward slightly. I want to kiss him. I hope he wants to kiss me. My breathing speeds up as he gets closer, and I close my eyes. All is quiet, until I hear an angry voice shout out at us.

"Oi! Mellark! What do you think you're doing?"

**Dun dun dun! ;D Cliff-hanger, I know… But if you can guess correctly who is ruining this perfect Everlark moment, you will get a high-five or something from me through the Internet! :D Sorry for updating so late, but this is the longest chapter I've done and there was a quite a bit of drama is this... and I have no beta so I have to read through it about ten times :p**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you again to those who have reviewed! There have been a lot of guesses as to the 'Oi Mellark' Person is and now, (finally) you get to see who it is! Virtual high-fives to those who guesses right! ;D **

**I wasn't sure if I liked the way this chapter went, but I guess I'll have to see what you guys think! Remember to review; I am doing this for free! :)**

_**Previously on Sparks… (Christ. This sounds like a TV drama)**_

_He stares at me, his arms loosening around me. I lean forward slightly. I want to kiss him. I hope he wants to kiss me. My breathing speeds up as he gets closer, and I close my eyes. All is quiet, until I hear an angry voice shout out at us._

"Oi! Mellark! What do you think you're doing?"

I hastily move away from Peeta and see that a group of people are walking towards us, Gale leading them. It looks like they've just come out of school. I glance at Peeta and he frowns, his blue eyes wide.

"What does he want?" He asks me.

"I have an idea." I murmur back to him. "What do you want Gale?" I call to my friend, standing by Peeta's side.

"I've got a bone to pick with Mellark."

"Couldn't you have done it without making a scene?" I ask.

"Maybe it'll teach dough boy a lesson." Gale hisses, his eyes narrowed.

"Dough boy? _Really_?" Peeta says under breath.

"Who do you think you are?" I ask Gale.

"I'm someone who cares about you."

"Peeta hasn't done anything wrong." I defend the baker's son.

"Oh yeah, because fucking you isn't doing anything wrong!" Gale says, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Several members of the crowd laugh, and I notice Bron standing beside Gale, looking as smug as hell.

"He didn't do anything to me! I can't believe you're believing _rumours_!"

"Stay out of this Catnip." Gale says. My mouth drops open.

"No, you stay out of this Gale!" I shout, suddenly not caring about the crowd of people who have gathered around us. "This is none of your business."

"It is when you're involved." Gale says.

"What do you want?" Peeta says.

"I want to know why you think you can take advantage of Katniss!"

"Nothing has happened!" Peeta says. I can see he's trying to keep calm, but under the pressure of a seventeen-year-old guy and a half the year group from school staring at us, I know it won't take long for him to crack.

"Come on Peeta, lets go." I mutter, pushing him away.

"Where are you going?" Gale shouts after us.

"Your mother will love hearing about this!" Bron laughs. Peeta pulls his arm out of my hand and turns, striding over to Bron and punching him on the jaw. Bron falls to the floor, the people surrounding him stepping back so he doesn't fall on them. He groans and rolls around in the dirt. I smile.

"I don't know what you've heard, but it isn't true. Just stay out of it, okay?" Peeta tells Gale, his eyes narrowed. Gale laughs.

"Don't tell me what to do, just because you're a Merchant." Gale counteracts. "You think you can do whatever you want, prancing around like you own the place." Peeta turns to walk away. "Obviously your mother doesn't beat you enough."

And that's when Peeta Mellark cracks. He spins around and punches Gale.

"Stop it!" I shriek, running forward and stepping between them.

"Oh, so you want to play dirty do you?" Gale says, pushing me aside. Bron grabs my arms, holding me back. I attempt to pull away but he simply laughs into my ear, tightening his grip.

"Go ahead." Peeta challenges, moving his fists up to his face.

"I thought he was on the wrestling team." I hear someone whisper from behind me. "There's no way Gale can beat him. He came second to his older brother in the wrestling competition."

"Nah, have you seen how tall Gale is?" My eyes are wide as Gale throws a punch, narrowly missing Peeta. Peeta laughs at the older boy, shaking his head, but is silenced when Gale's fist connects with his jaw. Peeta is thrown back with the force of the hit, landing on the dusty floor, his nose bloody. I jab my elbow into Bron's stomach and kick him in the shin, causing him to double over in pain and release my arms. I run to Gale and push him away, dragging him by his shirt.

"Stop it! Just stop it the both of you!" I say, staring angrily up at Gale. His nose is also bleeding, so he wipes it roughly with his hand and tries to push me out of the way. I step in front of him.

"I'm sorry Catnip." Gale says, his eyes wide. "I just heard everyone talking and saw you and heard that you snuck off together, and when I saw you with him back there, I just thought…"

"Well you thought wrong." I hiss. "If you wanted to find out the truth, you could have found me and asked instead of fighting like a little kid!" I turn away from Gale and see that Peeta has stood up, glaring at Gale. "Are you alright?" I ask him. He nods. I walk away with him, leaving the crowd behind me.

"I'm sorry Katniss." Peeta says, looking down at his feet. "I've just made this whole situation worse."

"Yeah, you have." I say, looking at Peeta. He looks at me, his eyes filled with guilt. "But Gale started it."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna give him some time to cool off, and then I'll talk to him."

"Do you want me to come with-"

"No." I interrupt Peeta. "I think it'll be better for me to go alone." Peeta nods. We stay silent for a while. "What are going to do about your mother?" Peeta sighs and puts his hands in his pockets.

"I guess I'll just have to explain everything to her." Peeta says.

"Don't let her… do anything." I say.

"I'll tell her everything when Dad is there." Peeta says. He smiles at me, though it doesn't reach his eyes.

"I'm sorry Peeta. For everything."

"It'll be alright in the end." He says quietly. I pull him in for a hug. "I need to go Katniss. My shift at the bakery starts in a little while."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then?" I say, pulling away to look at him. He nods and squeezes my hand before walking away. I sigh. All this drama is a single week.

I stand there, watching Peeta walk away into the distance. I can't help but feel something for him. Though I'm not quite sure what it is, or when I first starting feeling it, but I know that it will eventually consume me whether I like it or not. Maybe, after all this time of telling myself that I'd never fall in love, I can finally let my walls down and let someone in.

Someone who will care for me.

Someone who will love me.

Someone I'll love back.

This person could be Peeta.

The next day…

"Are you alright Katniss?" Prim asks me over breakfast.

"Yes, I'm fine." I answer, looking up at forcing a smile onto my lips. "Why do you ask?"

"You look tired, like you didn't sleep."

"After you moved to Mum's bed I didn't get much sleep." I say. Prim frowns, unsatisfied with my answer, but says nothing. What I told her is true though. I hardly slept at all last night, but not due to nightmares.

I can't get Peeta out of my head.  
No matter what I do, his kind smile, stunning eyes and loving gaze keep making appearances in my mind. It would be infuriating if it were anyone else.

I'm glad that he's there for me. Despite knowing that the school will move on from this rumour when someone breaks up with their girlfriend or something trivial like that, I can't help but wish everyone would just forget about it. I can't believe that Peeta's own mother had started the rumours.

Actually, when I think about it, it isn't that hard to believe. Peeta's mother has always been one to gossip, twisting the words of people she probably hasn't even spoken to face to face, and turning a seemly harmless sentence into an evil accusation. I try to focus. Prim will notice if I'm occupied with something else. She always does. She once told me that I'm like an open book at times, but when I want to I can make myself very hard to read.

Pulling a sun hat over Prim's head for the walk to school, I walk into the bedroom and shake my mother's shoulder.

"Mum? Prim and I are going to school now, okay?" Mum's blue eyes flicker up to my face but she stays silent. At least she acknowledged me this time. I straighten up and sigh.

"Is it one of her bad days?" Prim asks me as we walk outside onto the road. I look up at my younger sister and nod, feeling terrible. Prim doesn't deserve to have a mother who lies in bed all day or sits in her rocking chair. She needs a proper mother. One that is always there to help us, love us, care for us. Not just on days when she feels like it.

The walk to school is quiet in my part, Prim on the other hand babbles on about one of her friends from town.

"Lila always has pretty ribbons in her hair. I like the pink ones."

"I'll try and buy you some ribbon at the Hob, if you want." I offer. Prim's face brightens.

"Only if we can afford it." She says solemnly, her smile faltering.

"I'm sure we can manage." I say quickly, not wanting to spoil her hopes of having ribbons to tie into her hair.

After dropping Prim off in her class, I head for mine, fanning myself with a school folder. The school, despite its ramshackle state, traps the heat from the sun so you feel like you're in a sauna. Well, ninety-nine percent of the people in District 12 have never been in a sauna (or know what it is) but according to _Lifestyle Choices in the Capitol _'s definition of a sauna, a hot day in one of these classrooms is exactly what it's like. Merchant girls bring in expensive looking hand-held fans around this time of year to keep themselves cool, though most of the Seam kids know that it's to prevent their makeup from sliding off their faces.

My first class is all about Capitol Culture. This is one of my least favourite subjects. It doesn't teach us anything of importance and the each lesson is spent looking at pictures of Capitol residents in ridiculous clothing, living in ludicrous houses and eating mouth-watering yet stupidly expensive food. The sweltering conditions of the summer don't make it any better. Nobody seems to be staring at me anymore. I begin to wonder why everyone seems to have moved on. I'm grateful, of course, but moving on _that_ quickly?

By second period, I'm dragging my feet as I head to Gym class. I have to admit, Gym class is probably my favourite part of the school day (apart from going home) because it's something I excel at. I can only hope that one day they'll teach archery.

"Ladies, please. You can talk after lessons, not when I'm trying to teach you." Coach Marr, the burly gym teacher, says to a group of Merchant girls. "Now then, today we will be inside, since it is cooler in this sports hall then outside in the summer heat." The class sighs in relief.

Madge stands beside me. We pair up and pass a worn leather ball between the two of us, making only small talk.

"I hope this heat wave ends soon." Madge says quietly, passing the ball to me and tucking a lock of golden hair behind her ear. "Everyone is suffering."

"I know." I reply. "I heard that Sander's younger brother died a few days ago."

"It awful, isn't it?" Madge observes. "I bet all those Capitol people have electric fans and swimming pools and stuff to keep cool. They'll be alright, but us lot are all suffering." I feel my eyes widen at Madge's sudden outburst. She's usually so quiet, and as the Mayor's daughter, she would be one of the last people to complain about the Capitol. "Sorry." She mumbles.

"No, no. I'm just surprised at your sudden outburst." I smile slightly and Madge laughs.

"What? Just because I'm a Merchant I should fawn over the Capitol like some lovesick puppy?"

"No, it's... Never mind." I kick the ground with my foot and look down. "There's more to me than meets the eye." Madge says with a tilt of her head.

"I know." I reply, chucking the ball back to her.

We continue to chat for a little while, and then Coach Marr calls the class over to start a game of Netball.

"Get into two teams and wait for my whistle to start." After a couple of arguments over team arrangements, Coach blows the red whistle hanging from his neck and the game begins. Madge and I hang back at the side of the rectangular pitch marked on the chipped concrete floor, dodging the ball as much as we can.

"How did everything go with you and Peeta?" Madge asks.

"It went fine, but we still don't know who started the rumours." I say, looking down at my feet. "But Gale decided that he could sort everything out and the two got into a fight." I say.

"I heard about that! Are they alright?" Madge asks.

"They're fine. But I'm going to have a right go at Gale after school. He won't know what hit him." Madge laughs.

"This will all blow over in the end." Madge tells me.

"I know. But this is just a big mess now." I sigh. Madge shoots me a reassuring smile.

Peeta is on our team and I become transfixed by him as he jumps into the air to whack the ball onto the ground and score us the first point of the match. His friends slap him on the back to congratulate him, and he grins. At least his friends haven't turned against him. I find myself smiling along with him.

"What's got you so happy?" Madge asks suddenly.

"Wh- Huh?" I stumble on my words.

"You're grinning like the cat that's got the cream!" Madge says, placing her hands on her hips.

"Our team just scored so I'm happy that we're winning." I say quickly. Madge raises an eyebrow. "It's true!" I say, folding my arms.

"I never said it wasn't." Madge says. I roll my eyes. "But I can't help but wonder, are you happy about the point we've got, or the person who scored it?" I feel my mouth drop open.

"How can you say that?" I say, staring at my friend.

"You fancy Peeta Mellark!" Madge shrieks, jumping up and down and giggling.

"I do not! And keep your voice down for goodness sake!" I hiss.

"You do fancy him! Katniss Everdeen fancies Peeta Mellark! I never would have thought…" Madge trails off, her voice slightly quieter than before.

I feel a blush creeping up over my cheeks. "How long have you liked him? When did it start? I guess this whole thing has given you loads of reasons to talk and be around each other but that can't be the only reason. I was wondering why you were so concerned about whether Peeta fancied Marlene or not. I guess this explains it and-"

"Madge. Let me talk." I interrupt.

"Sorry." My friend says, smiling brightly. I hold my head in my hands and groan. I'm not good at girl talk. To be fair, I've never really been involved in this type of talk before.

"Okay, okay. I admit that I like him, a little." Madge opens her mouth to talk again. "But shut up about it. Seriously Madge."

"I promise that I won't say anything, to anyone." Madge promises, her cheeks pink with excitement.

"I started to like him about a week ago, and I can't get him out of my head." I confess. Madge squeals. "Madge! Honestly!" I exclaim.

"Sorry, but Katniss! I can't believe it!" Madge says. "I never thought that you would fall in love with a _Merchant_! Everyone assumed you would marry Gale!"

"They did?" I ask, surprised. Madge nods.

"What is it about him that you like? Or love?" I shoot her a look and she grins. "How did he woo you?"

"_Woo _me?" I ask.

"Yes Katniss. How did he woo you?" Madge says with a sarcastic drawl. "Well, I love his eyes, his hair, his personality. He seems to care about me." I admit rather sheepishly. I've never been honest with anyone, not even myself about how I feel for Peeta.

"This is adorable, but tragic." Madge muses.

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything! You're being a right softie!" I say. Madge smiles at me. "Now come on Madge. You can freak out about this at break, lets go and actually help our team." I step out onto the court and sigh.

"I can't believe this." Madge says to me, walking forward. "Peeta Mellark. This is just… wow." I roll my eyes.

Suddenly I feel something smack into the side of my head and fall to the ground. My head smacks against the cold concrete floor and black spots appear at the sides of my vision.

"Katniss!" I hear Madge shout as a searing hot tingling pain shoots across my face. I struggle to breath for a second, all the breath has been knocked out of me, leaving me floundering on the floor, my head spinning. "You hit her with the ball you idiot!" I hear Madge scream at someone.

"Madge, calm down!" Someone exclaims.

"Katniss, can you hear me? Can you see me?" Someone else asks me. I feel a warm hand cupping my cheek pushing my hair from my face. "What?" I mumble, rubbing my eyes.

"Hey, you got hit in the face with the ball. I think you've hit your head too." A soft voice says.

"I did?" I say. The person chuckles.

"Yep, she's hit her head." Someone says. I identify the person as Coach Marr. I open my eyes to see a pair of shockingly blue eyes staring into mine. Peeta is crouched beside me, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he places a hand on my forehead as if to take my temperature. "Peeta?" I ask, my heart racing.

"Hi there." He says, smiling down at me. I look around and see that the majority of the class has gathered around me, Coach Marr staring down at me with a concerned look and Madge's eyes wide with worry. "Mellark." Coach Marr says, placing a hand on Peeta's broad shoulder. "You're strong, would you mind carrying Miss Everdeen down to the nurse?"

"Sure." Peeta says.

"Alright folks, nothing to see here, get back to the game." Coach Marr says and the class moves away.

"I bet it was the baby that made her faint!" Someone shouts. Several people laugh.

"Tell them to shut up." I mumble. Peeta laughs.

"Hold on tight Katniss. I'm gonna pick you up, okay?" Peeta says. "Alright." I say. Peeta puts one of his arms under my legs and the other around my torso and I feel myself being lifted up into the air. I lean my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "How can you carry me?" I ask him, looking up as he walks along.

"You weigh practically nothing Katniss, you're lighter than the bags of flour that I carry." Peeta says.

"Oh." I say.

"Are you alright? You took quite a fall back there." Peeta asks.

"I'm better now, but my head is spinning and-"

"Katniss you're crying!" Peeta says, his eyes widening. I bring my hand up to my face and feel warm tears trickling down my cheeks.

"No, I'm not. My eyes are watering because my face is stinging." I say. "Is it red?" I place my hand gingerly on my cheek.

"Yeah, and you'll probably have a nasty bruise to show off." Peeta says. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying: _'You'd know a lot about this type of thing, wouldn't you?' _

"Fantastic." I grumble. Peeta grins. "What are you smiling at?" I ask. "Nothing." Peeta says. I see that we've reached the nurse's office and Peeta knocks on the door.

"Oh my!" The nurse exclaims when Peeta walks into the room, me in his arms. "What happened?"

"She got hit in the face with a ball and hit her head when she fell." Peeta explains.

"Okay, thank you for carrying her. Can you lay her down on the bed?" Peeta takes me over to a small bed in the corner of the room and puts me down on it. "Alright then." The nurse begins.

"Don't go." I tell Peeta. He stares down at me in surprise before nodding. "I'll stay, don't worry." He says. I smile.

"It's Katniss, isn't it?" The nurse asks me.

"How did you know?" I say.

"I used to work with your mother." She explains. I nod. "Peeta, can you take a ice press out of the refrigerator and wrap a tea-towel around it please?" I watch as Peeta does as he's asked and the nurse asks me how I'm feeling.

"I feel okay, but I've got a bit of a headache and my face hurts like hell." I mutter.

"I don't think you'll get concussion or anything similar, but I suggest that you keep this cold press on - Thank you Peeta- to reduce swelling." Peeta hands her the compress and I press it gingerly to my face. "Stay here for a little while and then go back to class, but don't run around or anything and come straight back here if you feel sick."

"Will do." I promise.

"And while you two are here, I think this would be a good time to talk about the current predicament you two are in."

"Pardon?" Peeta says, glancing at me in a state of confusion equal to mine.

"Oh, you don't need to keep a secret. I know about the baby." The nurse smiles. I sigh. "I just want you to know that I'm here if you have any problems during the pregnancy, so don't be afraid to come to me, including you Peeta."

"Oh, no. I think you're mistaken." Peeta says. I press my palm to my forehead.

"I'm mistaken? Why?" The nurse asks.

"There is no baby." I say.

"Oh. What happened?" She asks.

"There never was a baby." I say. "It's just a rumour."

"But you two are together, aren't you?"

"No." I say. The nurse straightens her back, obviously baffled.

"Well, in that case, I guess you've got a lot of explaining to do." Peeta and I nod. She stands, as if to leave the room, but then stops in the doorway. "Some of the teachers said that you two were too young to raise a child, and that you wouldn't be good parents. But in my opinion, I think you two make a great couple." She smiles at us and exits the room, leaving Peeta and I in silence.

"Well that was awkward." Peeta says, sitting down on the worn chair placed beside the bed.

"Um, yeah." I say, grinning at him and crossing my legs.

"Besides, I think we'd be good parents if it came to it." He remarks.

"I don't know why they wouldn't think that." I agree, the room filling with our laughter. "Thank you for taking me here." I say, placing my hand on his arm.

"You're welcome." Peeta says flashing me a smile. "How come each time we talk, one of us it injured?"

"It's our 'thing', I suppose." I say. He laughs. "So what actually happened? Who threw the ball?" I ask, my cheek beginning to go numb under the ice.

"Well, you and Madge walked forward onto the court and Bron threw the ball. It hit you in the face, you fell to the floor and Madge freaked out." Peeta says.

"Bron threw the ball?" I ask, confused. Peeta nods. "But I thought he was on our team. Why would he throw the ball at me?"

"I have a hunch that he was throwing it at you intentionally, though he'll deny it if you confront him." Peeta says, a grimace on his lips.

"That, that...bastard!" I hiss.

"Katniss Everdeen!" Peeta says. I look up at him. "What an excellent way to describe him!" I laugh and he shakes his head. We fall silent again. "You shouldn't have helped me though." I say quietly.

"Why not?" Peeta says.

"It's not that I don't appreciate it, it's just that don't you think Bron will tell your mother about this? And then she'll…" I trail off. Peeta's face pales.

"I guess that's just a risk I'll have to take." He says firmly.

"But now I feel guilty. If she hurts you it'll be all my fault."

"Don't feel guilty Katniss. It isn't your fault-"

"But it is Peeta!" I exclaim, the ice press falling into my lap. Peeta picks it up and presses it lightly against my face.

"No it isn't Katniss." Peeta says. I open my mouth to speak and Peeta places his finger against my lips. "It isn't your fault." I sigh in defeat and he removes his hand.

"How did last night go?" I ask, referring to Peeta explaining everything that happened to his parents. I'm momentarily glad that my mother doesn't know about any of this.

"I don't know. My mother was out with her friends and came home a little tipsy. I haven't spoken to her."

"What did your father say?" I persist.

"He asked me to explain everything. At first he was pretty annoyed, but after I told him everything he told me not to worry. I think he's going to talk to my Mum while I'm not there." I smile at him. He grimaces.

"We must look like we get into fights all the time." I say eventually. "You with your black eye, me with my bruised face." I smile at him.

"They're battle scars." Peeta says. "They show everyone how far we've come." I grin in response.

Eventually I decide that I can leave and Peeta walks me to my class.

"I'm in your other two classes today, but Madge is sure to look after you in this one." Peeta says. He opens the door and the entire class stares at us. I look down at my feet.

"And what excuse do you have for being late to my lesson Miss Everdeen? And Mr Mellark, shouldn't you be in class?" The teacher asks.

"Yes, but Katniss was hit in the face with a ball in gym class and the nurse asked me to walk her back." Peeta says.

"Oh, that's fine then. Off you go." Peeta squeezes my shoulder, smiles reassuringly at me and walks away down the corridor. I'm surprised when I feel a cold kind of emptiness in my chest Peeta disappears.

Madge greets me at our desk with a wide grin plastered over her face.

"What?" I ask.

"Are you alright?" She asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The nurse gave me a ice press for my face and told me to take it easy." I explain to her.

"And what went down with you and Peeta?"

"Nothing happened Madge." I roll my eyes.

"Are you sure? Because you looked pretty smitten when he picked you up." Madge says. I punch her on the arm.

"I did not." I say.

"Whatever you say Katniss, whatever you say." Madge smirks.

"Madge, you're acting like a little kid." I tell her.

"Miss Undersee and Miss Everdeen. Please share what you were just talking about with the class." The teacher says.

"Sorry Miss." We chorus. Madge continues to bug me through out the lesson, asking me question after question about Peeta and me. By lesson change, I felt that I could strangle Madge with my bare hands if she asked another question about how Peeta acted in the nurse's office.

"If _you're_ so concerned about him, why don't _you_ go out with him?" I snap at her. Her forehead creases. I sigh. "I'm sorry Madge."

"I'm sorry for bugging you." Madge says. I put my arm around her and hug her. Luckily she returns the hug before going to her next lesson. I walk into the next classroom and find Peeta sitting at the desk I normally sit at alone. He grins and I sit warily beside him.

"Is this wise?" I ask, gesturing to the two of us.

"Hello to you too." Peeta says. I grimace. "Katniss, stop worrying. Forget about my mother and Bron. Please."

"Fine, but casually reminding your mother that I _always_ hit my prey in the eye won't do no harm."

"So now you want to scare _my_ mother?" Peeta asks. I nod. "Katniss Everdeen, the fearless."

"I've got a nickname have I?" I say. _Gale will be annoyed_, I think to myself.

"If you want." Peeta grins.

"I don't mind." I say as the teacher begins to talk. Throughout the lesson I catch myself staring at Peeta, or him staring at me. Normally I would be uncomfortable with it, but now I just blush and get butterflies in my stomach.

"Is it just me, or does it seem that fewer people are staring at us?" Peeta asks me.

"I don't know what's happened, but yeah." I say quietly.

"I heard that Aaron asked Marlene out and she said yes. Maybe everyone is surprised that she said yes?" Peeta suggests. I raise my eyebrows.

"I'd be surprised, but hopefully it'll take people's minds of us." I say, scribbling down some notes from the board into my workbook.

We get on or two questioning glances from out classmates and at the end of the day, my own sister joins the crowd of staring people.

"Hello Primrose, I'm Peeta Mellark." Peeta introduces himself, shaking my sister's hand when she comes out of her class to find two people waiting for her.

"Call me Prim." Prim says, staring up at me. I grin at her. We walk along the road, Prim and Peeta talking animatedly, leaving me in my own thoughts. I can't help but notice how alike Peeta and Prim look.

At a moment's glance, you would assume that they were siblings. Once we meet the start of the Seam, Peeta says goodbye.

"I need to get back home and help in the bakery." He says.

"See you later Peeta!" Prim smiles.

"Katniss, I'll be fine." Peeta says, noticing my worried expression. To my complete and utter surprise, he plants and soft kiss on my cheek before walking away. I bring my hand up to my cheek, my skin tingling, and Prim gasps, staring up at me with a grin on her face.

"Oh don't you start." I tell her.

She's like a miniature Madge.

Great.

Sorry for the swearing, but I didn't want to just keep writing 'he/she/I swore'. Yup, it was Gale. The great 'Everlark mood ruiner'. ;) 


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to all those who have reviewed/favourited/followed this story, it means a lot! I'm going on holiday for a week today, to France! So, I might not be able to update for quite a while. :( But, if I can update, I will! I am going to try and post another chapter after this one _before _I go on holiday, but if I don't I will write some more during the holiday and post a new one the minute I get Wifi!

**(I hope the explanation above makes sense) ;D**

**Now, on with Sparks…**

After dropping Prim off at home, I head straight for the forest. I want to talk to Gale. I want to know why he didn't come to me and ask for the truth, instead of believing rumours. By fighting with Peeta he's made this whole situation worse, I'm sure.

As I slide under the gap in the fence, I think about how Peeta is getting on. I hope that his father or brothers will hold back his mother so he can explain. Simply the thought of him being hurt makes me shudder. I feel slightly reassured at the thought of Peeta having his father with him. Mr Mellark is the complete opposite of his witch-like wife. I'm sure he'll keep his son safe. To be honest, I don't know that much about Peeta's older brothers. I know that the oldest is called Fenton and the middle brother is called Rye and that they were all champions in the wrestling competitions, but otherwise, I know nothing about them.

I find my bow and arrows and sling them over my back, walking over the dry forest floor to our usual meeting place over looking the valley. Gale is already there, his shoulders hunched over as he picks at his hunting boots. He's needed new ones for a couple of months now, but refuses to tell his mother about it. He always puts his family first.

"Hi." I say quietly, standing beside him.

"Are you mad at me?" He says, not looking up at me.

"I don't know." I tell him. "I suppose I am."

"Well, I'm sorry." Gale says.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" I demand, sitting down beside him with a huff.

"I don't know."

"You believed what everyone else was gossiping about! You believe _lies_! And _rumours_!" I'm trying to keep calm. Obviously it isn't working.

"I'm sorry!"

"You're sorry?" I exclaim. "Oh, well, that makes it all better, doesn't it!"

"Catnip-"

"You fought Peeta! In front of all those people!"

"Catnip! Stop yelling!" Gale shouts.

"Okay, sorry. Tell me why you didn't come to me!" Gale looks up at me, his nose and right eye swollen. He takes a deep breath and throws his hands up in the air.

"I know that I shouldn't have fought Mellark, and believed the people who talked, but I've been under a lot of pressure lately."

"What kind of pressure?" I ask.

"It's Posy, she isn't doing well in the heat." Gale looks out at the valley. "I'm just worried about her Catnip. And I guess that while I was freaking out about that, I just didn't know how to handle it when I heard the rumours."

"Oh, Gale. I'm sorry." I say, looking at my friend.

"Don't worry. I'm sorry for fighting with Mellark."

"I'll get something from my mother for Posy."

"You will?" Gale asks, his face brightening. I nod. "Thanks Catnip." I smile at my friend and he grins back. "I've got some apples. Do you want some?"

"Sure." I say. Gale rummages through his bag and pulls out two red apples, handing one to me and taking the other for himself. We sit in silence, gazing out over the valley, the rocky outcrop providing us from much needed shade from the blazing sun. After we finish eating, I stretch out and lay down on my back, my arms behind my head, lifting to the sound of the trees, mockingjays and Gale eating his apple. It's these kinds of moments that I love. Where Gale and I can just forget about the struggles of everyday life and relax in the woods.

"So, when did you and Mellark start?" Gale asks. I sigh. '_Way to ruin the moment Gale.' _I think to myself. I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath.

"Peeta and I aren't together. We're just friends."

"What happened today?" Gale persists. "You know, when you two skipped school." He adds.

"Well, we went to his house and-" Gale's eyes widen. "And we tried to figure out who started the rumours."

"And?"

"And he showed me around but then his mother came home."

"That witch?" Gale exclaims.

"Yep, so we had to hide in a cupboard and at the top of the stairs before sneaking out the back. It turns out that Peeta's neighbour saw me with Peeta and 'assumed' that I was pregnant."

"When were you at Mellark's house?" Gale asks. I freeze. Now what do I say?

"I was just buying some bread." I say, looking down.

"Oh." Gale says. He knows that I'm not telling the entire truth. "Why is everyone saying that he saved you from Cray?"

"It's not what it sounds like." I say.

"You didn't go to _him _did you?" Gale asks, his eyes widening even further.

"No, I didn't. It was-"

"It was what?" Gale asks, standing up in exasperation. "He didn't hurt you did he? I swear, if he's hurt you I'll, I'll…"

"Sit down!" I say, pulling him down by his arm. "He didn't hurt me at all!"

"What were you doing with him then?"

"Nothing!" I insist. "I just couldn't sleep so I took a walk and he grabbed me."

"Oh, lucky you."

"What?" I exclaim.

"Wasn't it convenient that Dough Boy was there to save you?" Gale says, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, actually, it was. What is your problem?"

"My problem is that Dough Boy is acting like the super hero in this whole thing. He's just using you Catnip."

"He's getting yelled at too!" I say, staring at my friend in anger. "His mother beats him for not doing the slightest thing right! And you have the guts to tell him his mother doesn't beat him _enough_? Who do you think you are?" Gale stares at me, his mouth open in shock. "He's probably getting screamed at by that witch at this very moment! He has to explain this whole situation to her and you've made it worse by fighting with him! Just keep out of it Gale!" I exhale; my sudden outburst has taken both Gale and me by surprise.

"Woah. Okay." Gale says.

"Just get off my back, alright?"

"Jeez, fine." Gale says. I narrow my eyes at him and stand.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" I snap, walking away from him under the shade of the trees. I hear Gale walking after me and climb up the nearest tree, swinging my legs over a thick branch.

"Catnip?" Gale calls, walking towards the tree I'm hiding in. "Wait, I'm sorry." He says. I keep silent. I'm still annoyed with him. Gale stops walking. He's directly below me, but doesn't know I'm there. "I just don't want you to be hurt again." He says quietly. I frown. He said that almost to himself. Maybe he didn't want me to hear it?

He continues walking and jump down from the tree, creeping over the ground towards my friend. I wait until I'm just behind him before shouting out. He jumps back, to the side of the faint trail, and throws his apple core at me when he sees me clutching at my stomach as I laugh.

"I'm sorry… For yelling at you... And running… And hiding…. And scaring you." I gasp between bursts of laughter. He glares at me.

"I'm gonna get you back." He insists, trying to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, whatever." I say, grinning wildly.

"You have an unfair advantage." Gale half-whines, crossing his arms.

"And what is that?" I ask, straightening up and chucking the apple core back at him. "My excellent hunting skills, my silent footsteps?" I say.

"No, you aren't carrying kills."

"You've caught something already?"

"Duh." Gale says, pulling two rabbits from the bag on his back. "You took ages to get here."

"I'm the better hunter. I have a bow."

"I have snares. I can leave these out and they'll catch something, without me having to put in too much work."

"Are you forgetting the fact that once your snares have caught something, it's practically a free meal for any of the other animals in this forest." I point out.

"Touché." Gale replies.

We hunt for a few hours, the trees keeping the sun off out backs. I catch three rabbits, a squirrel and a turkey. Gale catches two more rabbits.

"I'm glad that it's nearly the end of summer." I say. "It's too hot for the animals to be out."

"At least we caught _something._" Gale says. I shrug. We walk out of the forest, I hide my bow and arrows in the hollow tree and we slide under the gap in the fence back into the meadow. The grass is like straw, the golden blades crunching under out boots. There are few flowers in the meadow; this heat wave has destroyed this beautiful place, which is usually in full bloom at this time of year.

Gale and I head straight for the Hob. The Hob is District 12's black market, located in a warehouse that used to hold coal. But since the Capitol has found that loading the coal straight onto trains was more efficient, it was abandoned. Now it is a bustling market, filled with stores selling legal (and illegal) items. Greasy Sae buys the turkey and one of Gale's rabbits, and then we head to my house, deciding to keep the rest of our catch to ourselves. No one else will buy the animals we've caught. There isn't much meat on them. They'd rather spend their money on something else.

If I were alone, I would have gone to the bakery and traded a rabbit or a squirrel with the baker. But since that seems like a sensitive subject between Gale and me, I decide to go tomorrow instead.

"Gale!" Prim says as we walk into my house.

"Hi Prim." Gale says, smiling at my sister.

"Is Mum up yet?" I ask. Prim shakes her head. "Have you got anything for Posy? She isn't handling the heat well." I explain.

"What are her symptoms?" Prim asks Gale.

"Um, she wont eat, or drink. And she has a fever." Gale says. I stare at him. He didn't say that to me. Posy's condition is more serious than I thought.

"I'll be right back." Prim says, leaving her schoolwork on the kitchen table and dashing into our bedroom. I can hear her talking to my mother and the bed creaking. To my surprise, my mother walks into the room, straightening her clothes and hair.

"She's up?" I whisper to Prim.

"I asked her and she suddenly got all eager." Prim shrugs, frowning at me. I sigh.

"This will bring her fever down." My mother says, rummaging through the wooden cupboards and handing Gale a small bottle. "And if you boil these with some water, and make her drink it, it should make her more compliant when it comes to eating."

"Okay, thanks Mrs Everdeen." Gale says, smiling gratefully and putting the bottle and bag of herbs into his bag.

"Posy will be fine, don't worry. Just keep her hydrated and in the shade as best as you can." Gale nods. I walk with him to the front door and he smiles at me.

"Tell your mother that we're grateful." Gale tells me. I nod. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." He adds.

"I'm sorry for yelling at _you_." I say. He laughs.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He says, walking away.

"See ya." I say. Gale walks away, kicking up dust from the path. "Do you want something to eat Mum?" I ask, walking back into the house. Prim has returned to her schoolwork and my mother is standing at the kitchen table, tapping her fingers on the wooden surface.

"I'll cook today." She says quietly.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Of course. Help your sister with her work Katniss." She replies, pulling a rabbit from my bag. I smile slightly and sit beside Prim.

"How long is Mum gonna be back?" Prim asks me.

"I'm not sure." I tell her. Prim flashes me a half-smile and looks back down at her work. I feel a pang of guilt in my stomach. It's nice when my mother isn't in her grief filled state, where she would just stay in bed all day and completely abandon Prim and I. But as the old saying proclaims, _all good things come to an end. _I just wish that this didn't. I wish that we had a mother who would help us and care for us. Be a proper mother.

Prim has had to grow up too fast, and despite my efforts to protect her, I know that she knows that our mother isn't okay. She knows that we have to fend for ourselves.

The next day…

The following day I wake early. It's Friday, and that means that it's the end of the school week. No more school for two days. Two days of lazing in the woods. I can't wait.

Our mother cooks breakfast and even joins in with our conversations. She waves at us as we walk away to school.

"Hopefully she'll be like this for longer than before." Prim says.

"Fingers crossed." I say, looking down at her. She smiles up at me. Once we reach the school gates, Prim runs off to meet her friends and I find Madge sitting under an old oak tree, her golden hair shining.

"Hey Katniss!" She greets me.

"Hey." I say back to her, sitting down in the grass.

"I think that you'll have an easier day today. Aaron dumped Marlene for Scarlet last night, so Marlene and Scarlet had a huge argument and Scarlet slapped Marlene and got suspended." Madge says, all in one breath.

"And that all happened last night?" I ask. Madge nods. "But I thought Aaron and Marlene have only been going out for a day or something?"

"I know." Madge says, her eyes shining. "Which is why everyone is talking about it. Their attention is on something else."

"Good." I say. Madge grins at me.

"Have you spoken to Peeta yet?" She asks.

"No, I haven't seen him." I say, looking around the playground to see if Peeta is playing football with his friends. I admit, it's hard to tell some of the Merchant kids apart with them _all _having blue eyes and blonde hair, but I can tell whether Peeta is there or not from his eyes. They are shockingly blue. The kind of blue that pulls you in and makes you feel like you could stare at them forever, never to come out. My shoulders slump when I realise that Peeta is nowhere to be found.

"Is he here?" Madge asks.

"I don't think so. I can't see him." I reply.

"Maybe he's just running late today." Madge offers. I smile slightly at her, but in the pit of my stomach, I fear for Peeta. He was going to explain to his mother last night. What if she's beaten him so badly he can't come to school? Surely his father or brothers, at least, would have stuck up for him?

"Do any of his brothers go to school till?" I ask Madge.

"I think Rye does." Madge says. "But Fenton is old enough to work at the bakery now. He might be getting married actually, I can't remember." I stand and begin to walk away. "Katniss?" Madge calls, getting up and running after me. "Where are you going?"

"I want to find… Rye." I say. "I want to ask him if he knows where Peeta is."

"Rye doesn't go to school in the mornings. He works at the bakery." Madge explains.

"When does he normally get here?" I ask.

"I'm not sure." Madge says. I groan in frustration. "Calm down Katniss."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. I'm sure Peeta is fine." Madge says, taking my arm.

"Where are we going?"

"To class." Madge says, giving me an odd look.

"Oh." I say.

Madge is thankfully in my first class. She sits with me and we chat throughout the lesson. No one asks about Peeta and me, and I begin to relax. But by the time my second lesson rolls around, a lesson that Peeta is meant to be in, I realise that not _everyone _has forgotten.

"How the baby?" Bron asks me, leaning back on two of his chair legs.

"You know that there isn't a baby. It's a rumour." I say to him.

"There isn't a baby? What happened?" Bron asks, bringing his hand up to his mouth in mock horror.

"There never was a baby." I say stubbornly. "There never was and never will be."

"Okay, calm down." Bron says. He turns away. I sigh.

Madge is in my next two classes, the ones in between first break and lunch. We sit at the back of the class, by the open window, and continue our conversation from the first lesson. I laugh along at jokes with Madge, but my mind is occupied with something else.

"Cheer up Katniss." Madge says.

"I can't. I'm worried Madge. He wasn't in second lesson, he wasn't to be found at break and I haven't seen him in the corridors." I look at my friend, my eyes wide.

"I'm sure he's fine." Madge says, but this time she too seems to be doubting herself.

"But what if he isn't?" I ask.

"Then you'll find him." Madge says.

At lunchtime, I spend the hour walking around the school, searching for Peeta. And then, at the end of the day, I ask Gale to take Prim home along with his siblings.

"What's wrong Katniss?" Gale asks me.

"Peeta wasn't here today." I say. "I'm going to find him." Gale's face contorts into a grimace. "I have to find him Gale. Sorry." I smile ruefully at him.

"I'll tell Prim that you're talking to a teacher or something." Gale says.

"Thanks." I say. I stand by the front gates of the school, looking out for Peeta's older brother. I recognise him from my visits to the bakery, and make my way throw the crowd of students flooding out of the school. "Rye!" I shout, following him and his group of friends. I should feel nervous, facing an eighteen-year-old guy and his group of friends. But then again, Gale is seventeen. How different can it be?

"Rye!" I shout again, when he continues walking, slapping his friends on the back and laughing. He turns and sees me, his eyebrows knotting together. He looks like Peeta. The only difference is Peeta's eyes are a darker blue.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"Is that the girl your kid brother knocked up?" One of Rye's friends asks.

"Like he'd have the guts to do that." Another laughs, causing the other's to snigger.

"Come on Everdeen. What is it?" Rye asks me, completely ignoring his friends.

"Where's Peeta?" I ask. "I've been looking for him all day."

"Why do you care? You're the one who ruined his reputation." Rye says. His friends begin to gather round, staring down at me.

"I'm sorry about all this, but I just want to see him." I say. Rye frowns.

"Why?"

"I'm worried about him." I say, lowering my voice. Rye seems to understand me and pulls me away from the group.

"Look. He told me that he doesn't want to speak to you. He doesn't want to see you."

"He wouldn't say that." I say, refusing to believe what Rye is telling me.

"He would." Rye counteracts. "Now, if I were you, I would stay away from him. Stay away from us. Don't get involved." And with that he walks away.

"Tell him I said hi!" I shout after him. He looks back at me but doesn't acknowledge me.

I run back home. Where is Peeta? Would he really say that he didn't want to see or speak to me? I shake my head. Surely he wouldn't. My mind is plagued with thoughts of Peeta. Has his mother beaten him so badly that he can't walk? Maybe he's run away? But where would he run to? He would be found after some time. District 12 would be searched. I can't imagine where he would go.

'_Peeta. Where are you?' _I think to myself.

'_Peeta. Do really hate me?'_

'_Peeta. I love you.'_

**Okay, okay. I know it's a short chapter, and that I updated REALLY late. I'm so _very_ sorry! But, I will be writing during my holiday, and I'm in the process of writing another story, which I'll probably be posting when I get back! SO that means you'll probably have two long chapters posted on the same day when I get home! Okay, see you soon! Lot of love and cookies and stuff… :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Bonjour Guys! I'm back! Okay, okay, calm down, stop cheering. ;D

**Yeah, so I'm back from my holiday in France! I would have updated earlier but I was awake for 30 hours on the way back from France to England. 20 of those hours where spent in the car actually travelling, 4 were spent directing traffic after there was a _huge_ (and horrifying) car-crash, 5 were spent eating, getting lost, and typing and the other hour was spent climbing into my house through our bathroom window after we left the keys _inside the house _and couldn't get in... (Don't ask.)**

**But I must tell you how good it feels to FINALLLY HAVE WIFI! ... AND A TAN! I mean, come on. I was in France for 5-6 days and got a better tan than I have during this entire summer holiday in England. (Depressing, I know).  
**

**Right then. It's time for me to stop talking. Enjoy this chapter of SPARKS! YEAH!...**

_I'm running. Running as fast as I can. I can see Peeta standing not 20 yards from me, flour up to his elbows, a worn apron around his waist.  
"Peeta!" I shout. He turns to me, his eyes wide, and opens his mouth, as if he were to speak. But then his mother appears from inside the bakery, rolling pin in hand, her mouth set in a line. "Peeta! Behind you!" I shout. I attempt to move forward but my legs stay firmly planted on the dusty ground. Mrs Mellark brings her arm back. "No! Stop! Please!" I scream, tears trickling down my cheeks. The rolling pin makes contact with Peeta's jaw and he staggers, clutching at his face, and falls to the ground.  
_

I wake with a gasp and a cold sweat on my forehead.  
"Katniss?" Prim sits up from the bed she is sharing with my mother and rubs her eyes. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah. Bad dream, that's all." I reassure her. "Go back to sleep." Prim gives me a small smile and lays her head down on the pillow, closing her eyes. I stand and change into more comfortable clothes. I pull on my hunting boots. I twist my hair into its signature braid. I head for the woods.

The morning air is fresh. Well, as fresh as it can be in this coal-covered district. I can feel the summer heat bearing down on the back of my neck, as I get closer to the fence. The trees provide me with shade and a slight breeze ruffles my hair. I find my bow and arrows. I manage to shoot a rabbit. I sit on a fallen tree and skin the animal, listening to the sounds of the forest. But soon my mind wanders to Peeta. He's been gone for nearly two days now. He could be anywhere.  
How do you begin to look for a lost person? I've asked around, searched alleyways, and done everything I could do. I've looked where Peeta would most likely be.

Even in the forest, where I'm normally so focused on hunting, I keep an eye out for Peeta. As if he would be here, in the forest, alive. He's a townie. How would he know what was edible and what wasn't? How would he know how to defend himself against wild animals? He wouldn't even know how to get back the fence, the only trails available are normally only used by animals. Gale and I are used to this environment. Peeta Mellark, on the other hand, is not.  
I'm walking towards the Hob with three rabbits and a beaver when I come up with a plan. I need to, _have to, _go to bakery. I have to ask his mother. I need to confront his family face on.  
"It's a sign that autumn is on its way." Greasy Sae says knowingly, nodding her head towards my first large haul of kills for about two months.  
"Thank God." I say, a smile on my lips. Sae takes the beaver and a rabbit for a handful of golden coins. I mill around her stall for a moment.  
"Is there something you want?" Sae asks me.  
"Have you seen Peeta Mellark lately?" I blurt out.  
"The baker's youngest son?" I nod. "No, I haven't. He normally comes in here with his mother to by baking twin and herbs during the summer. But I haven't seen him."  
"Would you call me crazy if I went to his mother and shouted at her?" I ask, biting my lip.  
Sae stares at me as if I've suddenly sprouted another head. "Depends on why you want to shout at her." I frown. "And she is a nasty piece of work from what I've heard."  
"But you wouldn't call me crazy, would you?" I persist.  
"No, I suppose not. But make sure you give that witch a good scare from me as well." Sae grins crookedly at me.  
I sell one of the two remaining rabbits and head back to my house, leaving the last rabbit on the chopping board in our kitchen. And then, I head for the bakery.

It feels strange to be walking through the real side of the Merchant's area of District 12, instead of through the back- streets and ally-ways. I'm used to trading goods at the back door of the bakery with Peeta's father. I march straight into the bakery and find that it is empty. No one is waiting to be served or buying anything. I walk up to the counter.  
"Welcome to the Mellark Bakery. How may I-" Rye turns to face me. "Oh. It's you." I raise an eyebrow. "What do you want?"  
"You know what I want. I want to know where Peeta is." I tell him, folding my arms.  
"Look. Get this into your thi-" Rye clears his throat. "-head. Peeta doesn't want to speak to you. He doesn't want to see you. He doesn't want anything to do with you. You have ruined his life as far as he's concerned."  
"You do realise that nothing ever happened, don't you?" I say, leaning forward, my hands on the wooden counter.  
Rye frowns. "I heard that he knocked you up."  
"Congratulations! You're an uncle!" I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.  
Peeta's brother drops the notepad he's holding, his blue eyes wide. "So it's true?"  
"No." I roll my eyes. "Nothing ever happened between us. I wasn't even associating with him until about a week or two ago."  
"Then why don't you just go back to normal, and leave him alone?" Rye says. "Our mother isn't the most... forgiving person."  
"You could say that again." I smirk.  
"Well, yeah." Rye admits, a small smile on his lips. "But if I were you, I wouldn't get involved in this. She was angry with him. I've never seen her so furious. I don-"  
"Rye! What are you doing?" A high-pitched voice exclaims. Rye and I straighten up immediately.  
"I was just telling Miss Everdeen over here which type of bread we're cooking next week." Rye says, his eyes flickering back and forth between his mother and me.  
"Oh, fantastic idea!" Mrs Mellark hisses. "Just tell her what we're selling and when we're selling it so she can come in and steal it from us!"  
"No, I wasn't going to do th-" I start.  
"I don't want to hear anything coming from _your _mouth." Mrs Mellark snaps at me. "You are a Seam slut." She pronounces each word slowly, popping the 't'. "You always have, and you always will be. I told my son to be careful, not to mess around. And now look what he's done! Knocked up a _thing _like _you._ It's disgusting. He isn't a son of mine. You've ruined his life! You've ruined everyone's lives! And you think you can walk into my bakery and act like everything is fine and dandy?" I stare at her, eyes wide. Her words of venom have had no effect on me, but I'm just amazed at how much she has said in one breath.  
"Mother, you-" Rye begins. Mrs Mellark holds a finger in the air. Rye falls silent, his eyes throwing daggers at his mother.  
"Okay, well." I say, taking a step back from the counter so that I can face Mrs Mellark fully. "Lets get a few things straight. Firstly, your son never knocked me up, nothing even happened between us. In fact, he saved me from being taken by Cray. Secondly, even if he had knocked me up, how would he have ruined _everyone's _life? Thirdly, this isn't your bakery, it's your husband's."  
"How dare you speak to me like that!" Mrs Mellark screeches, walking towards me. "Maybe you should have been taken by Cray! It would have been a whole lot better."  
"What's going on?" A quieter voice asks. I look over Mrs Mellark's shoulder and see Peeta's father coming through the door. "What is all this shouting for?"  
"This _girl_ has the nerve to come in here and yell at us! After all she's put us through!"  
"I think you're the only one yelling, dear." Mr Mellark says. "You and I both very well know that this whole situation has been based on a misunderstanding. Katniss, were you ever pregnant with my son's child?"  
"No." I say. Mr Mellark looks knowingly at his wife.  
"She's lying." Mrs Mellark says. "She's only _pretending _to love Peeta. She's just jealous of the life we have compared to hers. She simply wants a way into the Merchant side of town."  
"That isn't true!" I say indignantly. "I'm not trying to do anything! Peeta just happened to be in the right place at the right time!"  
"What is that supposed to mean?" Mrs Mellark shrieks at me.  
"He saved me from Cray! He's done nothing wrong! Your son is a good man! Despite all that _you've_ put him though, he's turned out to be a polite, kind and strong person. You don't deserve him as a son." The room falls silent. I know I've gone to far. But Rye and Mr Mellark's face tell a different story. I can see that Rye is trying to fight a grin from spreading over his face. His smile is wiped off when Mrs Mellark brings he hand back and slaps me on the cheek. The pain is similar to when I was hit with the ball in Gym. My mouth drops open. My hand moves to my cheek.  
"You filthy little _slut._" Mrs Mellark says.  
"You may think it's okay to beat your _children_, but it isn't okay to hit me!" I shout at her. "It isn't right to hit anyone!"  
"Don't you tell me what to do!" Mrs Mellark shrieks, furious.  
"Where's Peeta?" I ask.  
"It's none of your business! You leave us alone! You leave him alone!"  
"Is he here?"  
"No." Mrs Mellark says.  
"You're lying." I say quietly. I step forward and jump onto and over the counter. "I'm sorry." I whisper to Mr Mellark as I pass him. He looks down at his feet.  
"Get back here!" Mrs Mellark yells at me as I climb up the stairs. "Get out of my house! Now!" I hear her climbing the stairs behind me, but I'm already searching through the bedrooms. Peeta is nowhere in sight. One door left. I push it open. And there he is. Lying on the bed, a blanket thrown over his stomach.  
"Peeta." I whisper, walking forward. His face is covered in red welts, and a long cut -a scratch- runs down the side of his face. His arm is at a funny angle. I can't see the rest of the damage under his shirt. From the looks of it he's unconscious. I feel a hand grip my arm and yank me backwards, out of the room.  
"Get out of my house." Mrs Mellark screams at me, pushing me down the stairs. I stumble down them, through the front of the bakery and into the street.  
"Is he dead?" I ask her. Her face pales. She doesn't answer me. "Tell me!" I shout, fighting the tears. A group of people walking by the bakery stop and stare. "Did you kill your son?"  
"Go home." Mrs Mellark says, slamming the door. I run, my braid whipping my back with every step. By the time I reach the Hawthorne house, my cheeks are wet with salty tears.  
"Gale!" I shout, hammering on their front door. Gale opens the door, his eyes wide.  
"Christ Catnip! What's happened?" He says, stepping towards me.  
"It's P-Peeta!" I say, my voice breaking between racking sobs. "I w-went to his house and he's in his r-room. B-but he's badly injured Gale, l-like you wouldn't believe."  
"Come in, try to stop crying." Gale says, putting his arm around me and pushing me gently into his house.  
"Katniss! Are you alright?" Hazelle asks, the spoon she was holding clattering onto the floor.  
"It's about the baker's son." Gale says hurriedly.  
"Rye?"  
"No, Peeta."  
"Oh." Hazelle frowns. "What's happened?"  
"Well, I went to the bakery to see if he was there, and if he wasn't, ask his family where he was."  
"What do you mean? Has he been missing?"  
"For a few days." I say. "So I went in and started talking to Rye. He was saying how angry Peeta's mother was and how I shouldn't get involved but then Mrs Mellark came in and we started screaming at each other and I ran past her and up the stairs of their house and searched through all the rooms until I found Peeta. But he's hurt. Real bad."  
"How bad?" Gale asks, leaning forward on his arms and staring at me. I wipe my hand over my cheeks to get rid of my tears.

"I'm not sure. But his face is pretty busted up, and he wasn't awake. I don't even know if he's alive." I feel a fresh wave of tears starting to appear and blink rapidly to get rid of them.

"Who did it to him?"

"Who do you think?"

"His _mother_?" Gale asks, lowering his voice.

"Yes." I say. "Of course it was her."  
Gale opens his mouth to say something when someone knocks on the front door of the Hawthorne house. I look up at the door along with Gale as Hazelle answers it.  
"Oh, hello." She says quietly.  
"Can I come in?" Another person says.  
"Of course, yes." Hazelle steps back a little and I see Rye (of all people) step over the threshold. His eyes flicker around the room that is used as a kitchen, sitting room and dining room before they come to rest on me.  
"What do you want?" Gale asks.  
"I want to talk to you about my brother." Rye says, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. He looks very, very out of place in the Seam, with his light hair, blue eyes and better quality clothes. "You need to get him out of there. Away from our mother."  
"I know." I mumble. "How did you know I was here?"  
"I saw you running. I followed." Rye shrugs. "I've got a plan on how to get Peeta away. My father is in on it too. But it won't be easy."  
"I'm listening." I say. Gale nods beside me.  
"Okay. This is what we'll do." He begins, looking between Gale and I, determination in his eyes.

**Ooooo. **

**What do you guys think Rye's plan will be? :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**As promised, here is the 7th chapter of Sparks! **

**I'm extremely sorry for the long wait, but I was too tired yesterday from travelling, and I was out with my friends at our local 'Cinema Under The Stars'. We watch Grease and Jaws until half past midnight, so yeah… **

**Anyway! Enjoy this chapter!**

Peeta was missing for almost two days. Yes, I know it isn't that long, but when you know how his mother is, and the whole 'Peeta knocked up a Seam Slut' situation has made it worse, you suddenly become very paranoid.

By nightfall I swear I've gone crazy. I've been waiting all day for the sun to set. I waited around all day explaining Rye's plan to my mother and Prim. I waited around all day worrying about Peeta.

I think Gale thinks that I'm crazy too.

I think he's finally realised that I have feelings for Peeta. And now I feel that he looks at me differently.

I hate it.

It feels like he's judging me.

I can't believe that he's agreed to help me get Peeta. I know that he isn't happy with this, and that he doesn't like me liking Peeta. It seems that his feelings for me are stronger than I first thought.

Honestly, I don't know how to react to Gale. We've been best friends for what seems like my entire life, but now that I know his feelings are different to mine, I can't help but worry that it will change things between the two of us.

Back at my house my mother has laid out all her medical supplies on the kitchen table. She sent Prim and I to the meadow to collect leaves and roots. The atmosphere is tense. Too tense. Eventually I fall asleep on Gale's shoulder, in the living room of my house, and dream of Peeta.

_The dream starts off pleasant, simply a sunny day in District 12. I'm in the bakery, talking to Peeta, when his mother suddenly appears and pulls him away, through the curtain that separates the front of the bakery and the back. I run after him and my feet splash through something. Something red. Blood._

_I see Peeta's body on the floor, his shirt dyed red in uneven patches all over his chest. I drop to my knees beside him._

"_Peeta. It's gonna be alright." I promise him._

"_Go away. I don't need you. I don't want you. Go. Away." He slurs, his eyes shiny. _

"_You don't mean that."_

"_I do."_

"_You don't."_

"_I… do." Peeta says. And then his eyes close, his chest stops rising and falling, and an eerie silence fills my dream._

"Catnip. Hey. Wake up." Gale shakes my shoulder with his hand.

"What?" I slur, still half-asleep.

"It's time to go." Gale tells me.

"Oh!" I say, sitting up. He smiles at me. "Sorry. I'm kinda freaking out at the moment." I apologise to him.

"Lets get going." Gale says, standing up and stretching his legs. I stand too and walk into the bedroom Prim, my mother and I all share. My mother and sister are both asleep.

"Guys, wake up." I say.

"Are you going to get Peeta?" Prim asks, swinging her legs out from under the blankets.

"Yeah. Can you wake Mum for me?" I say.

"Sure." Prim wraps her arms around me. "He'll be okay Katniss." She says into my stomach.

"I hope so." I say. Prim pulls away and smiles at me. I smile back. And then I'm walking away, out into the dark street. Leaning against my house is what looks like an old door, or plank of wood. Gale grabs one end, and I take the other.

When we reach the cut between The Seam and the Merchant's houses, Rye steps out from the shadows, his hair glinting in the moonlight.

"Are you ready?" He asks quietly. I nod.

"Are you sure this will work?" Gale asks.

"It should do. Every Saturday Mum goes out with her friends and normally comes back a bit tipsy. She'll be passed out on the couch all night." Gale and I exchange glances. Rye grins.

We continue towards the bakery in silence, our footsteps crunching over the gravel paths.

"I'll go inside and when give I give you the signal, come on in. But be as quiet as you can. The floorboards creak." He shoots me what looks like a smile before turning and walking in through the backdoor of the bakery, the one I usually stopped at to trade with Peeta's father. Gale and I stand under the tree outside the Mellark house, our backs against the rough bark.

"You love him, don't you?" Gale says to me suddenly. I say nothing. I look down at my feet. "It's okay Catnip. I just want to know." I remain silent. Gale sighs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes. I do love him." I finally tell him. He stiffens.

"Why?"

"I don't know." I admit.

"You must know Catnip." My friend shoots back.

"I guess that I love how caring he is, how he looks at me. His entire personality. Everything about him."

"But he told you that he didn't want to have anything to do with you."

"Correction: Rye told me that."

"And than makes it a lie, does it?" Gale says, turning to me.

"I don't know."

"Why are you so clueless about all this?" Gale exclaims suddenly.

"Keep your voice down!" I hiss. His jaw locks and he rolls his eyes. "I know what Rye told me. It may the truth, it may be a lie. But surely if he were lying about it he wouldn't be helping right now?" This time Gale is silent.

"How could you love someone that you've only really known for a week or two?" The silence is broken.

"Gale, if you've ever loved someone, you would know that sometimes it doesn't take a long time to fall in love with that person. It could take hours. It could take years. But however long it takes, or what causes you to fall in love with that person, love is love. You can't stop it." Gale stares down at me. I'm as surprised as he is over my sudden outburst about love- a subject that Gale and I after all these years have dodged talking about.

Something flickers in Gale's eyes. "Fine." He says.

"Don't throw a fit." I snap back.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Can we just drop it?" Gale asks, exasperated. "I was just wondering."

"Right." I say. "Sorry." I add.

"Lets just drop it." Gale repeats. Again we fall silent. The darkness outside the bakery is brightened when one of the windows on the upper floor is lit up in a yellow glow. Then we're plunged into darkness. Once more the light is switched on, and then it's dark again.

"That's the signal." I say quietly, walking forward. Gale heaves the plank of wood into his arms and follows me into the house.

"I feel like a burglar." Gale whispers to me as we tiptoe over the tiled floor of the bakery.

"I know." I say back to him. "The bad thing is that we'd be good burglars."

"I don't know. We need to stop talking." Gale remarks. I grin at him. He rolls his eyes. I push the curtain away and squint, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness before continuing.

"Hey!" I hear someone call from the darkness. I freeze. Gale stops, mid-step. "It's only me!" The voice adds. I breathe a sigh of relief. It's only Rye at the top of the stairs. "Be careful coming up here. The second, fifth, sixth, ninth and top two steps are really creaky."

"Okay." I whisper back. I glance back at Gale and he nods. I walk forward, guiding the plank carefully so it doesn't smack into one of the walls, as well as navigating the creaky stairs.

I test each step with the balls of my feet before stepping forwards and we make our way up the stairs at a snails pace. We creep along the hallway, following Rye who is looking over his shoulder the entire time, checking for anyone –like the witch- to appear at one of the bedroom doorways.

"Christ. This is a nice place." Gale mutters, looking around. I look around at him and shoot him a 'don't rant about the Capitol here' look. He seems to get the message but rolls his eyes.

"He's stirring, but isn't aware of his surroundings right now." Rye whispers as we walk through the doorway of Peeta's room. I place my end of the plank on the wooden floor and walk quietly over to Peeta's bed. He's still lying there, but his lips are moving, as if he's trying to speak.

"Oh, Peeta." I say, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.

"You can love him somewhere else. Not now, in front of me." Rye comments. I spin around and face them, my cheeks turning red.

"Sorry." I say quickly, standing up. Gale and Rye lay the plank on the floor beside Peeta on his bed and slide him onto it. And then they lift him up. I can't believe that they can lift him _and_ a heavy plank of wood. The muscles in their arms are straining under his weight. I want to help, but I've got to open doors and guide them. I poke my head out from the bedroom door and look along the gloomy corridor. Empty.

"Lets go." I whisper to Gale and Rye. They follow me down the corridor. All three of us are holding our breath, feeling our way towards the stairs. I almost scream when the last door in the hallway, the one closest to the stairs, opens and Fenton is left standing there, ruffling his hair with one hand and staring at me, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Um, hello." I say, smiling warily up at him.

"What the fuck?" He exclaims.

"Shut up Fenton!" Rye hisses. Fenton looks around the doorframe and sees Gale and his younger brothers in the hallway, Peeta lying on a plank of wood, Rye and Gale carrying it. Gale gives him a nod, a grin on his lips. He finds this whole situation hilarious.

"What the hell are you doing?" Fenton asks, still looking half asleep.

"They're rescuing Peeta." Rye says. Fenton raises an eyebrow. "Go back to bed Fenton. This never happened. This is just a dream." Rye continues.

"Your head is fucked up, Rye." Fenton says, before returning to his room.

"He's a charmer, isn't he?" Rye whispers. I grin slightly, and we continue down the stairs. I end up having to hold Peeta in place on the board, to stop him falling onto the floor during the descent of the stairs. We exit through the bakery kitchen and head for the Seam. By now it's about midnight and the District is completely silent except for the sounds of dogs barking and the trees rustling in the breeze.

"You do realise that when Peeta wakes he's gonna be completely confused." Rye says.

"I'm sure he'll be okay." I reply, looking down at Peeta and smiling.

We reach my house and Rye and Gale half-tip, half-slide Peeta onto our kitchen table.

"Thank you Rye, Gale." My mother nods to each of the older boys.

"No problem." Rye smiles.

"Yeah, it's fine." Gale adds.

"Will he be okay?" Rye asks. I look up at him when he says this. It seems that his caring side is making an appearance. (As if him rescuing his brother in the dead of night isn't caring).

"He should be, but I'm yet to assess the situation." My mother reassures him.

"He's in good hands." Gale says.

"Alright." Rye continues, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'll cover for you. Make sure she doesn't come round her screaming." He sighs, referring to his mother. I nod, though Mum and Prim look slightly confused.

"Goodnight." Mum says, and I show my best friend and Peeta's brother to the door.

"Fenton won't say anything, will he?" I ask.

"Nah." Rye says, shrugging it off. "He won't. He cares about Peet too."

"Peet?" Gale asks, raising an eyebrow.

"He's gonna kill me for telling you that." Rye says. Gale laughs.

"Thank you, again." I tell Rye he nods and heads out, waving his hand in goodbye before walking away from my house.

"He'll be alright you know." Gale tells me.

"I know." I say. "But thank you for helping. I know this must be… a little heartbreaking…for you." I struggle to find the right word and regret the word I use the second I say it. Gale's cheeks darken slightly, but I can still see it in the light of the moon. He shuffles on his feet and frowns.

"What do you mean?" He asks, clearing his throat.

"You like me, don't you? And when I say like I mean like, like." I explain.

"I… er.."

"It's okay Gale." I say, already knowing that this is extremely awkward. "You don't need to be embarrassed." Gale's grey eyes light up. I smile at him.

"It's just that I…" Gale stumbles. He doesn't know what to say. I look down at my feet. And then I feel his hand on my cheek. And then his lips on mine.

I freeze, not knowing what to do. Gale pulls me closer to him and tries to deepen the kiss and, after what seems like hours, I pull away.

"No, Gale. I didn't mean that." I mumble, a hand on his chest. He leans in again. "Stop it. Now!" I hiss, pushing him away and stepping back, bumping into the doorframe.

"You can't love _him _Catnip. You just can't!" Gale says, his eyes shining.

"Why not?" I ask, frustrated.

"Because I love you. I've loved you longer." He says.

"I'm sorry. I just don't feel this way." I say. "I'm going to go and help my mother and Prim." And with that I slam the door in my best friend's face. I slide down the door and sit on the floor, letting out a shaking breath. I can't believe it. Gale Hawthorne just kissed me. My best friend. The person I've always trusted, always known I could talk to, always loved. But obviously Gale's love is different to mine.

How long has he felt this way? A few days? A few months? A few _years_? I subconsciously wipe my hand across my lips, still feeling the pressure of Gale's lips against mine. I close my eyes and focus on breathing.

Girls in the school yard always whispered about how your first kiss made you feel all bubbly inside, that you saw fireworks behind your eyelids, that you felt a spark.

With Gale, I felt nothing.

Nothing.

Not a flicker.

It wasn't disgust, the feelings I felt. I was surprised at the sudden kiss. I was bewildered at what to do. How to react. This was my first kiss. I had never done it before. Even worse, it was with someone I didn't love in the same way.

I take a deep breath, stand and walk into the kitchen. My cheeks warm at the sight of Peeta without a shirt. I've never been one to be at ease around nakedness, unlike my mother and Prim who have always been unfazed. I can't handle too much blood or injury on a person either. Though I can gut an animal without a second thought.

"What is the diagnosis, doctor?" I ask, coming up to the table. My mother motions to Prim to explain.

"Well, he's got either a broken arm or a dislocated shoulder, a few broken ribs and two of his fingers are badly bruised." My sister says, looking down at the youngest Mellark in pity.

"What else?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"Severe bruising and a few cuts on his face. And what looks like several burns." A strangled cry escapes my lips.

"That monster." I say, dragging a stool over and sitting beside Peeta. I'm about to take his hand when Mum stops me.

"Not that hand, dear. That's the bruised one." I nod and resort to stroking Peeta's forehead. Throughout the hours of the early morning, my mother and Prim set Peeta's arm, pop his shoulder back in, (yes, he had both the dislocated shoulder _and_ broken arm) and smeared lotion on his burns, bruises and cuts. He cries out in pain when his arm in straightened and shoulder is fixed, but stays partly unconscious.

"Why has he been unconscious for so long?" I ask, biting my lip and staring down at Peeta.

"He's probably taken a hit to the head. Sometimes you can fall unconscious for a long amount of time." Prim says. "He most likely has concussion."

"You should go to bed Katniss." Prim tells me. "You're exhausted and he probably won't wake fore many hours. We've given him lots of medicine for the pain."

"No, you two have done lots of work. You should go. I'll stay here." I insist. Prim sighs but leaves the room after washing her hands.

"You've done well, Katniss." My mother tells me, squeezing my shoulder.

"I didn't do anything. You're the one who fixed him." I mumble.

"But if it wasn't for your love, he would have never been brought here."

"If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be in this position. None of us would." I sigh. Mum lays a raggedy blanket over Peeta, slides a pillow under his head, and throws another blanket around me shoulders. She too leaves the room.

I lay my head on the table and listen to Peeta breathing. "I love you Peeta." I say softly. I press my lips together. I've never said that out loud before. "I love you so much." I continue. "I'm sorry I got you in this mess."

Before long the steady rhythm of Peeta's breathing makes me relax, and my eyelids begin to droop. I sigh and let the darkness of sleep to overcome me, leaning my head on the wooden surface of the kitchen table.

**For those who may think that a broken arm/dislocated shoulder/ broken ribs may not seem that bad, trust me. It _is_ hell. I've experienced all three. In front of my entire school. Yeah, rugby is dangerous, even when you're a girl sitting at the sidelines watching the match. O.o You can probably imagine what happened… If you honestly can't, just ask and I'll tell you the entire story… :P**


	8. Chapter 8

**Guten Tag! **

**This is the 8th chapter of Sparks. Honestly, I didn't think I would get this far… But I don't want to let my readers down! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I'm a bit of a sucker for fluff! (Don't worry those who dislike fluff, there isn't too much). ;D **

**Sorry for this chapter being late… again… but I've been ill for the past five days and couldn't find the energy to write.**

**Remember, reviews are appreciated! I'm doing this for free :P**

I wake with a stiff neck. I sit up straight, groaning as my back begins to ache as I lean against the back of the wooden chair I'm sitting on, the blanket my mother threw over me the night before dangling on the floor. I yawn and rub my eyes, blinking and smiling to myself. And then I see them.

A pair of sparkling blue eyes, staring right at me.

"Hey." I say softly, bringing the chair closer to the table.

"Hello!" Peeta says cheerily, a goofy smile on his face. "I haven't seen you for a while!" He's still partially under the influence of the medicine my mother gave him, his speech slurred a little. "What am I doing here?" He asks, looking around the kitchen.

"Well, we kidnapped you from your house and brought you here."

"Who's we?" Peeta asks, tilting his head to one side.

"Gale, Rye and myself." I grin, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "We carried you through town in the middle of the night on a plank of wood."

Peeta frowns a little, and then looks back at me, his eyes sparkling. "You did?" I nod. "Woah… That's crazy."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright."

"Really?" I ask.

"Well, my back hurts, and my face, and my arm and my chest… But I'm good." Peeta says. I gaze down at him and almost feel like I could cry. I don't realise that I actually am until Peeta brings his hand up to my cheek and wipes away my tears with his thumb. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I thought I would never see you again. And you were really injured! And because Gal-" I freeze. My cheeks redden. I look down at my hand clasped in Peeta's. I can still feel Gale's lips on mine.

"And because Gale what?" Peeta says.

"And… er… because Gale's little sister is ill." I say quickly. Though it isn't what I intended on saying, it isn't a lie. Posy is still slightly ill, even after all this time.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Peeta says, offering me a smile.

"She's getting better, so it's alright."

"That's good." Peeta says. "Thank you, for rescuing me." He says, squeezing my hand.

"You're welcome." I grin.

"What are my parents going to say?"

"Your Dad knows. He's in on it." I explain. Peeta nods. We fall into silence and Peeta eventually closes his eyes. I immediately miss the blue orbs that we gazing up at me not three seconds ago. "I missed you, you know." I mumble.

"You did?" Peeta asks, re-opening his eyes and staring at me.

"Yeah, I did." I say sheepishly.

"I'd say I missed you too, but I wasn't exactly… conscious." Peeta remarks. I bite my lip.

"What did she do to you?" I ask quietly. Peeta's lips turn downward into a grimace, and he squeezes his eyes tightly shut.

"Um… Well, I went home to explain everything." Peeta begins.

-Flashback- Peeta's POV-

_I walk away from Katniss and her younger sister, Prim, and smile. Finally I kissed Katniss. If someone had told me that I would kiss Katniss Everdeen aged fifteen, I would have kicked them for messing with me. But now that I've done it, I can't help but feel happy. I hope that Katniss won't be taken back from it. I don't want her to think I'm being pushy or anything._

_The look on Katniss' face was one of fear when I walked away from her. She knows as well as I do how my mother is most likely going to react. All I have to do is try and talk to her when my father is also around. He'll restrain her. _

_The door creaks slightly as I enter the bakery kitchen. I run up the stairs and leave my school bag in my room before quickly returning to the kitchen._

"_Peeta? Is that you?" My father asks me, poking his head through the curtain that separates the kitchen from the shop._

"_Hey Dad." I say, tying an apron around my waist._

"_I need you to work upfront instead." Dad tells me. _

"_Alright." I reply, walking into the shop. I serve several customers and by the time Fen and Rye arrive home from wrestling practice, I'm sitting behind the counter, bored as hell._

"_Hey there Peet!" Rye says, ruffling my hair. Fenton gives me a hug, but not out of love. He's still drenched in sweat from wrestling practice. _

"_Oh yuck guys!" I say, pushing my brothers away as they laugh. "Thanks. Thanks a lot." I say sarcastically._

"_You're welcome buddy." Fen says, grabbing a towel and rubbing his face down. _

"_Mum's gonna have a right go at you." Rye says._

"_Thanks for reminding me." I say, rolling my eyes. Rye and Fen exchange glances. Fen shakes his head at Rye. _

"_What was it like then?" Rye asks._

"_Rye!" Fen hisses. _

"_What?" Rye replies, giving his older brother a glare._

"_What was what like?" I ask, confused as to what my brothers are talking about. Rye laughs and Fen punches him on the arm harder than he normally would have. _

"_You know… **it**." Rye says._

"_I still don't understand." I say, frowning and sitting forward on my seat._

"_Between you and that Everd-" _

"_Rye wants to know what it was like having sex with that Everdeen chick." Fen sighs dramatically, cutting Rye off. I blink, my cheeks burning._

"_Oh look, he's blushing." Rye says, slapping my cheek._

"_Nothing happened." I mutter._

"_Nothing?" Rye asks, turning to me. _

"_Nothing!" I confirm. "It's a rumour." _

"_Huh…" Rye says. "I bet you wish it wasn't." _

"_Whatever Rye." I say._

"_He didn't say no though, did he?" Fen says, nudging Rye. They laugh and I shake my head._

"_What are you two doing?" My father asks, stopping my older brother's loud chortling. _

"_Nothing, just taking to Peet." Fen says. I glare at him. He grins. _

"_Stop wasting time and get showered. I need you to help with bringing deliveries back here from the train." My father says. My brothers leave the room, running noisily up the stairs and fighting to get into the bathroom first. "I guess I'll go back into the kitchen then." I tell my father._

"_Good idea." My Dad says with a wink._

"_Oh, I'm sorry Peeta. Does the idea of you working in the kitchen make you sad?" My mother asks sarcastically. I turn around to see my mother standing in the doorway, her arms folded over her chest, her lips pressed into a thin line. _

"_That wasn't what I mea-" I start._

"_You should be grateful that we allow you to work here!" My mother hisses. "This is training you, teaching you for the future!"_

"_Come now Aymee. You know that he didn't mean it that way." My father steps in, placing a hand on my shoulder. "No!" My mother says, glaring at me. "He is asked to go and work in the kitchen and he acts like it's some sort of great inconvenience! Don't be ungrateful!"  
"Aymee-"  
"I can't believe it! He acts like this despite the fact that he's brought shame upon this family by knocking up that Seam slut!"  
"She isn't a slut, mother. I haven't knocked her up either." I say, balling my hands into fists at my sides. My mother spins around and stalks away.  
"I haven't done anything Dad. I didn't want any of this to happen." I say quietly, turning to face my father. He smiles sympathetically down at me.  
"I know son, and I trust that you didn't do anything irresponsible." He sighs. "Your mother will get over it. I'm sure she'll see sense and realise that you would never do that on purpose."  
"Thanks." I reply, walking into the kitchen. I begin to mix up ingredients to make dough and leave it beside the ovens for it to rise. I grab a broom and begin to sweep the floor, making my way around the room. The sound of a door shutting causes me to look up. My mother stands in the doorway that leads to the shop.  
"You have a lot of explaining to do." She tells me.  
"About what?"  
"Don't pretend like you don't know." Mum hisses, narrowing her eyes. "Marjorie says-"  
And then I do something that I know will get me in trouble. I interrupt my mother. "Marjorie is seeing things! She's lying!" I exclaim.  
"Don't you dare interrupt me!" Mum screeches. "Marjorie is a good friend of mine and a good woman. But you want to know what she told me not ten minutes ago?"  
"What did she say?" I ask.  
"She said that she just had a visit from none other than Katniss herself. She went to her because Marjorie was once a midwife. She had an appointment with Marjorie to check how her **pregnancy** was going." My eyes widen.  
"That isn't true." I insist. "Katniss isn't pregnant. Besides, she wouldn't even be able to afford an appointment with Marjorie." My mother frowns; obviously starting to see cracks in what she's apparently been told. "I'm sorry Mum, but Marjorie doesn't know what she's talking about."  
"You've embarrassed this family Peeta." I'm told as I turn around to pick up a glove to take some trays of bread buns from the oven  
"They'll get over it." I mutter. And then I feel my mother's hand connect with my cheeks. The oven glove slips out of my hand and my skin makes contact with the edge of the oven. I'm used to getting burns and scrapes from the ovens, but this burn seems even worse. I pull my hand away and examine it, feeling the stinging pain radiating through my arm.  
"What did you just say?"  
"I said that everyone would get over it!" I say, my temper finally getting to me.  
"Don't raise your voice to me!" Mum shouts.  
"Don't accuse me of something that isn't true!" I shout back. My mother steps up to me, pointing a finger at my chest since squaring up to me doesn't work. She's now the shortest person in the family.  
"You ungrateful little-" My mother purses her lips and suddenly I feel the hard edge of the rolling pin smack into my shoulder. I step back and my face scrunches up in pain. My shoulder feels like it's been crushed._

_By the time my father and Rye arrive from the train station (Fen is still finishing up with the deliveries), my head is spinning and I'm finding it hard to breathe. "If you do so much as **think** about that Everdeen girl, she'll get a visit from me." My mother threatens.  
"Don't... go near…her." I mumble, my jaw aching.  
"Don't tell me what to do!" Mum hisses. Rye then enters the kitchen and yanks our mother away.  
"Dad! Get in here!" He yells. He looks down at me, his eyes filled with sorrow. "Hang in there." He tells me._

"_Aymee!" My Dad exclaims, running into the room, Fen close behind. "What did he do?"_

"_He did everything! He's knocked up that girl; he's ruined this family! And then he had the guts to yell at his mother!" Mum says, staring down at me._

"_Woah, you yelled at her?" Fen asks me, a trace of a smirk on his face. I attempt to laugh a little, knowing that it'll simply anger Mum even more, but the movement causes my chest to ache. I settle for groaning and clutching at my arm. _

"_Rye, take your brother to his room. Aymee, come and calm down." Dad instructs, pulls his wife away._

"_Okay lil' bro." Rye says, kneeling down beside me. "What hurts?"_

"_Everything." I moan._

"_Everything?" Rye questions, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. He's never been one to cope well in these situations._

"_You aren't helping." I tell him. "But if you want a serious answer, my arm, shoulder, ribs, fingers and face hurt like hell."_

"_What did she do to you?" Rye asks, helping me up. I feel tears coming to my eyes as I straighten my back. My ribs are broken for sure._

"_I don't know. She started yelling at me and I lost my temper and yelled at her…"_

"_You lost your temper? **You**?" Rye asks._

"_Yep." I say. "And then she slapped me and I burnt my hand, and then she attempted to square up to me-"_

"_Which we all know isn't happening any time soon." Rye sniggers._

"_And then she hit me with her rolling pin and I think she also hit me in the head. I'm not sure." I mumble._

"_I'm sorry we weren't there." Rye says, half-dragging, half-pulling me up the stairs and into my room where I lay on my bed and groan in pain._

"_I planned to explain everything with some back up. I didn't realise you were gone." I say._

"_I'll get something for the pain." My brother says, disappearing into the bathroom. My father returns instead of Rye, a bottle of pills in hand._

"_I'm so sorry Peeta." He says, sitting down on the edge of my bed._

"_It's not your fault." I reply. _

"_What can I do?" Dad asks._

"_Give me those pills." I say. Dad chuckles and hands me the pills. I swallow them down dry. _

_-End of flashback-_

My hands are over my mouth as I listen to Peeta.

"She did that to you?" I ask quietly. Peeta nods slightly. "I'm really sorry Peeta."

"You shouldn't be sorry. If it wasn't for you I would still be in that bed." Peeta says.

"Are you cold? Hungry?" I ask.

"I'm a little thirsty." Peeta says.

"I'll get you some water." I say, standing up and walking into the kitchen. I half-fill a glass with the clear liquid. I bring it back to Peeta and I pull him upright slightly so he can drink. He takes the glass and drinks from it while I prop him up. He winces when I touch his shoulder. "Sorry." I reply.

"Don't worry." He says.

"You finished?" I ask, motioning to the cup in his hand. He nods.

"Thank you." He says softly. "For all of your help."

"You're welcome." I grin down at him. I'm suddenly aware of how close our faces are- our noses are almost touching. Peeta licks his lips and smiles slightly. I stare into his eyes, he stares back, and I find myself leaning in, ever so slowly.

"Peeta! You're awake!" Prim's sudden announcement surprises the both of us, and a sit back, leaving me to drop Peeta back onto the table.

"Ow!" He calls out, clutching at his shoulder and arm.

"I'm sorry!" I say, my voice increasing in pitch as I stand.

"I'm going to fetch mother." Prim says, running back out of the room. Peeta catches my eyes and I look away, a red-hot blush sweeping across my face and chest, a smile on my lips nonetheless.

"Ahh, Mr. Mellark." Mum greets Peeta, walking towards him and rolling up her sleeves.

"Mrs. Everdeen." Peeta returns to greeting, equally as polite. "Now that I'm aware of my surroundings and circumstances, I feel that I must thank you and your daughters for helping me."

"It's no trouble." My mother says, washing her hands. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling alright." Peeta says.

"Any pain?"

"In my chest, arm and shoulder." Peeta says, rubbing his elbow gingerly with his one good hand.

"Well, I have good news, and bad news." Mum says. "Which would you rather hear first?"

"The bad?" Peeta asks, looking up at the three of us as we look down at him.

"Primrose?" My mother motions for my sister to explain.

"The bad news is that you did have a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm." Peeta looks at his shoulder and grimaces. I blink and swallow, remembering the mumbled cries of pain that Peeta emitted last night when Mum popped his shoulder back into his socket and set his arm in a splint to heal. His desperate sounds of agony brought tears to my eyes, the thought worsened by the facts that Peeta was unconscious. Thank God he wasn't awake. "The good news, you're ribs aren't broken, just badly bruised. You'll be healed up in a few weeks. As for your arm, that will take between four and six weeks I'm afraid. And your shoulder, that will take about a week to heal."

"He'll be okay though, wont he?" I ask, looking up at my family.

"I'm sure he'll be alright." My mother says, giving me a reassuring smile.

For the next few hours, I spend my time by Peeta's side, giving him something to eat, something to drink, and someone to talk to. We talk about seemingly pointless things, our favourite colour, season or animal. But it's these things that we find fascinating about each other. We learn a lot. Just after noon, someone knocks on the door.

"It's your family." Prim informs Peeta.

"My family?" Peeta frowns, turning his head on the table.

"Do you want me to send them away?" Prim asks.

"No, no. Please, send them in." Peeta says. Prim disappears and I hear heavy footfalls on the floor of our house. Mr. Mellark, Fenton and Rye stand in the narrow doorway, their heads almost touching the ceiling. They look out of place in the Seam, with their shockingly blue eyes and golden hair.

"Dad!" Peeta says, leaning up on one hand and swinging his legs over edge of the table. "Fen, Rye. What are you doing here?"

"We've come to see you, of course." Rye says, walking up to his brother.

"How are you feeling?" Peeta's father says, sitting beside his youngest son.

"Much better now." Peeta smiles. I stand by the door, and smile, before turning away. Peeta needs some time alone with his family. I need time alone to gather my thoughts.

**Yay! End of another chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading this. I had fun writing from Peeta POV :3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hola! (I'm kind of doing a 'say hello in a different language' thing here… aren't I? :D**

**Anyway, this is the 9th chapter of _Sparks_! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'm sad to say that I only plan on having a few other chapters after this, but I've been working on a story at the same time as this one which I'll put up as soon as I can! Sorry for this chapter being late, but school started today and it was bit hectic :D**

In the forest, I'm able to clear my mind. I climb up into a tall tree, as far as I can before the branches become too thin to hold my weight, and stand, one arm wrapped around the tree's trunk, leaning out into the air. The air is fresh and the wind whips past me, tendrils of my hair flying past, my braid shifting from its position on my shoulder. I inhale deeply and close my eyes, just listening to the sounds of the forest.

Peeta. I feel a smile on my lips at the mere mention of his name. I feel my cheeks prickle as they redden. My mind wonders before I can stop it and I think of what could have happened if Prim hadn't burst into the room. Maybe Peeta and I would have kissed. Maybe.

_Damn it! _I suddenly think to myself. I've thought of Peeta. Again. I told myself that here, in the forest, I would not let the golden-haired, blue-eyed baker's son cross my mind. Besides, that was the entire reason that I came out here. To get away and clear my head. De-clutter my thoughts before I went back home and did something with Peeta that I'd regret later on.

_You wouldn't regret it. _The little voice in my head tells me with a laugh. You would do anything with Peeta.

_I would not. I'm sure I'd regret something. _I think.

_All right then. Name one._ I bite my lip and sigh. The voice is right. I shake my head. I'm actually talking to myself now, my inner-monologue driving me crazy.

"Hey, Catnip? Is that you?" My not-so-peaceful thoughts are disturbed by an all too familiar voice. The question surprises me though, and I let go of the tree trunk, almost falling out of the tree. I manage to grab onto the branch I was perched on with both hands and hang their, swinging in the breeze.

"Of course it's me. Who else do you see out here?" I ask Gale, looking pointedly down at him.

"Well, I once saw Logan Weaver out here… But I think it was a dare and-" Gale trails off an looks up at me. I raise an eyebrow. "What are you doing up there?" He asks me.

"I sleep in trees now." I say sarcastically, swinging my legs forward and perching on the branch opposite. "It's kinda my thing."

"Haha." Gale says, hoisting himself up into the tree. I stay where I am, knowing he can't climb as high as I can. The branches break before he can get within ten feet of me. "I thought that you'd be with Mellark." Gale says, giving up on trying to climb any higher and sitting down, his back against the trunk of the tree.

"I needed to get out of there. You know, clear my head." I explain, twiddling the end of my bread in my fingers. "His father and brothers came over to see him."

"Oh." Gale says, picking at his jacket.

"So, what are you doing out here?" I ask.

"I needed something to trade." Gale shrugs.

"Oh." I say. The conversation trails off. I sigh. "Gale-"

"Catnip-" Gale and I speak at the same time. I look down at him and he looks up at me, our grey eyes identical.

"You first." I offer. Gale nods slightly and looks out into the forest. He takes a deep breath before speaking.

"I want to apologise for what happened last night. I want you to know that I didn't mean to hurt you or destroy our friendship."

"Oh boy, I should've gone first." I mutter quietly, scrunching my eyes shut and resting my forehead in my palm.

"Our friendship is important to me and I'd hate to loose-"

"Gale?" I ask, swinging my legs back and forth on the branch.

"Yeah?" He asks.

"Shut up for a sec, okay?" I say. Gale rolls his eyes. "I want to know why you k-kissed me." Gale's shoulders droop momentarily.

"I kissed you because I thought I was going to loose you. I don't want to loose you." Gale says softly.

"You thought that you were going to loose me?" I ask. Gale nods solemnly. "Yeah."

"How would you loose me?" I ask incredulously. "To who?"

"I'm afraid of loosing you to that Mellark kid." Gale says. I frown.

"To Peeta?" I ask. "How would you loose me?"

"Because it's pretty obvious that you have feelings for him!" Gale exclaims. I blush.

"Peeta and I are just friends." I insist. Gale laughs.

"Just friends… Alright, whatever."

"It's true." I say, frowning down at my friend. "But I'm sorry Gale. I don't feel the same way about you as you do about me." Gale says nothing. "This doesn't change anything, does it?"

"What would it change?"

"Our friendship."

"No, I don't think so."

"Good."

"Good." Yet again we are silent. I sigh and lean back against the trunk of the tree.

"But if you were afraid of 'loosing me to Peeta', why did you help rescue him?" I ask.

"Well, I couldn't exactly say no to you when you came to my house crying." Gale remarks. "I guess that I just thought that if I helped you, you would think that… Oh, I don't know."

"No, tell me." I persist.

"I thought that you would think that you owed me or something, that you would trust me more…"

"Trust you _more_?" I ask in disbelief. "Gale, I would trust you with my life." In response Gale shrugs. I shake my head. _Owing Gale?_ Yet again, owing someone for something has appeared in my life. "And you thought that I would owe you something in return?"

"Catnip, look… That wasn't what I meant."

"So what did you mean?"

"I don't know."

"Because I thought you would be helping me rescue someone I cared about out of kindness. Not because you thought that I would owe you!" I sling my bow over my shoulder and jump down from my perch in the tree, swinging from each branch until I'm on the forest floor.

"Catnip, wait. Please." Gale says, climbing down from the tree. But by the time his heavy black boots touch the leafy forest floor, I'm already running.

"What did you think I was going to? Roll over and kiss you?" I yell at him.

"That would have been nice…" Gale shouts after me.

"Damn you Gale! Damn you!" I exclaim, hiding my bow and arrows in a hollow tree and running towards the fence. I slide under, through the gap, and run back home.

I can't believe Gale. He's supposed to be my best friend. After all this time, after all we've been through. And now he thinks that I'll just fall in love with him?

I frown. I'm being harsh.

I mean, I love Gale and all, but my love for him is love you would feel for a sibling. Or for a _best friend._

I didn't even realise that he loved me in such a way. I'm sure other girls would have picked up on it, but I guess that I'm not like other girls. I begin to wonder if I could have realised Gale's feelings. Were there any signs? Any clear indication?

I shake my head as I push open the front door of my house. I kick my boots off, leaving them by the door and walk into the kitchen. Prim sits at the table, writing something in a school notebook.

"Where's Peeta?" I ask her, leaning on the edge of the table.

"We moved him from the table after his family left." Prim says.

"So where is he now?"

"In the sitting room." I turn and half-walk, half-jog into the sitting room. Sure enough, Peeta is lying on the couch, propped up on pillows and a blanket thrown over him.

"Hey Peeta." I say, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Hi!" Peeta grins.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him.

"Much better now that you're here." He grins. I look down, a blush on my cheeks. "How was the forest?"

"It was alright." I say.

"Did you meet up with Gale?"

"Well, not intentionally."

"Huh?"

"I was sitting in a tree and Gale found me… I guess he was just going hunting and bumped into me." I explain with a shrug of my shoulders.

"How is he?"

"He's well." I say, picking at the blanket. "What did you talk about with your family?"

"Oh, just the normal stuff." Peeta grins. "You know, the bakery, District 12."

"Good." I smile.

"My father is really grateful for what you've done for me." Peeta says. "He said that he didn't know what to do when he came home with Rye and saw me. He thought I was dead." I bite my lip and look down.

"I thought you were dead too." I admit. "When I first saw you."

"When you first saw me?"

"Oh, yeah. I kind of raged at you mother before we rescued you… and ran up the stairs in your house without permission… and then screamed at your mother _again_ in the middle of the street…" I trail off.

"Whoa." Peeta breathes, staring at me, his eyes wide. "Way to go!" I laugh and he grins.

"No, seriously though. She was full on _screaming_ at Mum." I turn and see Rye standing in the doorway. I blink, surprised. I didn't realise the rest of the Mellark boys were still here. "She came into the shop all casual, but when she was speaking to me she was all sarcastic."

"You were?" Peeta asks.

"I was." I grin, rolling my eyes.

"And then she went all diva." Rye laughs.

"I did not." I say indignantly. "You're making me sound like a right brat."

"Well…" Peeta says, tilting his head to one side.

"Oh shut up." I say, throwing a pillow at Peeta.

"Hey! Don't hurt _me_!" Peeta grins.

"Well, we're heading off in a minute." Rye says. Fen and Mr Mellark enter the room.

"You're back!" Mr Mellark says, smiling at me.

"Yup." I grin.

"Thank you for taking Peeta in. I know it must be hard for you to have another person to take care of…"

"I don't mind. It's alright." I smile.

Peeta's father and brothers eventually leave, and my mother gives Peeta medicine for the pain. He drifts off into a peaceful slumber, and I find myself just sitting there and staring at Peeta as he sleeps.

I watch the way his eyelids flicker occasionally, and I wonder what he's dreaming about. The yellow sunlight that filters through a window shines on his face, lighting up his eyelashes like it was in the bakery all that time ago. I sigh and stand, my knees cracking from sitting, and go into the kitchen.

"How's Peeta?" Prim asks me.

"Sleeping." I reply, sitting down in a chair with a 'humpf'.

"He's going to be alright Katniss. He just needs some rest." My mother says from her position by the kitchen sink. "His shoulder will heal but he has to keep his arm in a sling if he's going to move about. As for his arm, he'll have to keep that in a splint. He'll heal up quickly."

"I know, I know." I say, leaning my head on the tabletop. "I just hate to see him in pain. You know how I feel about blood and gore and bodies…"

"Katniss, you do realise that we might have to straighten his arm tonight? He's going to be in pain again and-"

"Primrose!" My mother says, placing a hand on my sister's shoulder. "Not helping." She says, glancing at me. I drop my face into my hands.

"It won't hurt too badly, will it?" I ask.

"Hopefully not. We'll put ice on the area to numb it, and give him something to make him slightly delirious." Mother says thoughtfully. "But he's in good hands Katniss, you know that." I grunt in reply. "Prim, why don't you go and feed Lady?" Prim nods, taking Mum's not-so-subtle hint to leave the room. "Now tell me what's really on your mind." My mother says, sitting down in Prim's now empty seat.

"What do you mean?" I ask, sitting upright.

"You can't take your eyes off the boy when you're here. And I'm pretty sure he's on your mind when you're away." Mum says, tilting her head to one side.

"That isn't entirely true…" I mumble.

"Really?"

"Really." I insist.

"Tell me the truth then."

"I think I…" I sigh. How do I put this? "The thing is, I never thought…"

"You never thought you would fall for someone who wasn't from the Seam?" My mother asks. "Or that you would ever fall in love?"

"Well put." I grimace.

"So you do love him?"

"I think I do." I mumble. "I love his personality, how much he cares for everyone, his laugh, his eyes." I trail off. My mother smiles at me.

"I know how you feel Katniss." My mother says. I look up into my mother's blue eyes. "I never thought I would fall in love with a coal miner. But when I heard him sing… All the birds would stop and listen. It was beautiful." Mum's eyes seem to cloud over slightly with the memory.

"But everyone always thought I was going to be with Gale." I say quietly.

"So did Gale." My mother says with a knowing nod.

"I know he did." I say.

"He kissed you, didn't you?" My mother asks.

"How did you know?" I ask, my eyes widening and a flush creeping over my face.

"I didn't- until now." My mother says. I narrow my eyes. "And how do you feel about it?"

"I don't know. I mean, I love him and all. But as a friend. As a brother. Not as a lover." I bite my lip. " I bumped into him in the woods today."

"How was he?"

"Upset. He didn't understand why I didn't love him after all these years. He even told me that he only helped Rye and myself rescue Peeta because he thought then I would think that I owed him!"

"He loves you though. Remember that."

"I love him too. But just not in the same way." My mother stands again, and walks towards me, picking up pile of sheets.

"This will all blow over. You just need to talk to Gale. You've been friends for years. You'll sort this out."

"I hope so." I grimace.

"Here, take the basket of clothes and sheets down to Hazelle's. Maybe you can sort things out with Gale while you're down there.

"No thanks. I kind of screamed at him and ran off." I admit.

"Even more of a reason to go." Mum tells me, holding out the basket.

"Fine. Fine." I groan, standing and taking the basket. "Look after Peeta while I'm gone."

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. He still be asleep by the time you come back so you can stare at him some more."

"Mum!" I say, throwing a dirty blouse at her. She laughs lightly and chucks it back at me. "He'll hear us."

"He's probably asleep."

"_Probably?_" I hiss.

"Go. And try and sort this out with Gale." I roll my eyes, walk to the door and slip on my boots. I walk outside and walk through the Seam until I reach the Hawthorne house. I knock on the front door and stamp my feet on the rough bristled mat sitting in front of the threshold, brushing the coal dust from my boots. Not that it helps. Every house in the Seam is covered in a blanket of coal dust, the mines coughing it out twenty-two hours a day, seven days a week.

"Come on in Katniss." Hazelle says as she opens the door. "Is that the laundry?"

"Yeah." I say, walking inside. Hazelle takes the basket and throws the clothes into a large pot of boiling water.

"How are you?"

"I'm good thanks, you?"

"I'm doing well."

"How's Posy? Gale told me that she wasn't coping with the heat." I ask. Hazelle smiles and looks over to the little girl sleeping on the ragged couch in the corner of the room.

"She's doing much better now that it's starting to get cooler. Autumn's finally here. And thank your mother for the medicine she sent over."

"Will do." I smile. "Is Gale here?" I ask, looking around the room as if he were hiding behind a curtain.

"No, not at the moment dear." Hazelle says. "He's probably either still in the forest or at the Hob. I'm not sure."

"Oh, okay." I say. "I've got to get going, so can you tell him I stopped by?"

"Yeah, sure." Hazelle replies. "Oh, and Katniss?" I stop and turn. "Tell the Mellark boy that my thoughts are with him. I hope he'll be okay."

"I will. And I'm sure he'll appreciate it." I say, flashing Hazelle and smile and letting myself out. I walk away, up the small slope, and jog back home.

It begins to rain slightly as I get closer to my house, the fat raindrops barely landing on the parched ground before it gets absorbed into the earth. I tilt my head back to the sky and stick my tongue out, feeling the cold water on my face. The grey clouds above darken the district, hiding the sun and making it feel like After such a long and stifling summer, this rain signals the end of the heat and the start of the winter. I don't know if I'm relieved or worried.

As I step into the house, I can sense that something's wrong. I frown. Prim's notebook looks like it's been flung onto the table. Prim would never carelessly chuck her belongings. She knows they're expensive.

"Mum? Prim?" I call out, wiping the rainwater off my face and entering the living room.

"Katniss, get over here!" My mother says. I gasp and run towards my mother and sister, who are crouched on the floor. Peeta on the other hand is lying on the floor, clutching at his shoulder and arm and groaning.

"What happened?" I ask, my voice wobbling.

"Peeta fell off the sofa and dislocated his shoulder again." Mum mutters. We need to pop it back into place before his arm starts loosing circulation."

"When did this happen?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

"Then why haven't you fixed it all ready?" I exclaim.

"Because he wouldn't let us." Prim says. "And we also gave him medicine to hopefully make it hurt less."

"Why wouldn't you let them?" I ask Peeta, dropping down onto my knees beside his head.

"Because they need both hands and I need a hand to hold." Peeta says, looking up at me, tears in his eyes.

"Really Peeta?" I say, looking down at him. He grimaces. "Give me your hand." Peeta reaches up and takes my hand. "But don't crush it." I warn him.

"I can't make any promises." Peeta says, gritting his teeth.

"Okay, Prim. Take the ice pack off Peeta's shoulder and take his arm. Make sure you hold it firmly in both hands." My mother instructs, tying her blonde hair up in a loose ponytail. "Now then," She begins, smiling ruefully down at the baker's son. "This is going to hurt, despite the medicine and ice."

"I know." He says. "But I'll be okay."

"Has this happened before?" I ask, my hands shaking. Peeta nods. My eyes widen. I pick up Peeta's head and place it in my lap, running my spare hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." I say.

"Okay, everyone ready?" My mother asks. Peeta tenses up. "After three, I'm going to try and pop your shoulder back into place."

"Alright." Peeta hisses.

"One-" Prim holds Peeta's arm tightly. "Two-" Peeta flexes his fingers. "Three!" Mum twists Peeta's arm into a right angle, pushes his arm upwards, and twists it again. A soft popping sound is heard.

"Argh!" Peeta says, his grip on my hand tightening momentarily.

"There, there. The worse is over now." My mother says, smiling down at Peeta.

"See, it wasn't that bad, was it?" I ask Peeta.

"No, it hurt!" Peeta says, looking up at me. A tear has escaped his right eye and I wipe it away with my thumb.

"But it's over now." I say.

"Good." Peeta says. I try to look away, but I can't tear my gaze away from Peeta's shockingly blue eyes. Mum clears her throat.

"Stand up Peeta, and lay back down." She orders. Prim and I help Peeta up and he lies back onto the sofa, wincing as his shoulder touches the pillow. "We'll go and get you some medicine." My mother says, motioning for Prim to follow. She gives me a small smile. I narrow my eyes. I know what she's trying to do. She's trying to get Peeta and I alone. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course…

"You do realise that you can't keep falling off the sofa." I tell Peeta. "It's not going to do your shoulder any good."

"I'll try not to make it a habit." Peeta says. He pats the sofa and I sit down, pushing his feet to one side to make some space.

"How's the shoulder?"

"Aching." Peeta grimaces. Mum comes back into the room, a roll of bandages in hand, looking between Peeta and I, trying to figure us out.

"How are you feeling Peeta?" She asks.

"Better now." Peeta says.

"Good." She says. "I know that you've just sat down, but I think it would be best if you walked around a bit. Have a change of environment."

"Yeah, okay." Peeta says, kicking off the blanket and swinging his legs over the edge of the sofa.

"But I'm going to need to bandage your shoulder up, make sure it's supported." She holds up the roll of bandages.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Peeta says. "Go ahead."

"We'll need to take your shirt off though." Mum says. "Katniss? Can you help him please?" I blink and glare at my mother. "Katniss, come on. He can't do it himself with _that_ shoulder."

"I don't bite." Peeta adds. I turn to look at him and sigh. Peeta lifts the hem of his shirt. I take it and help pull it over his arm, over his head and down his shoulder. He winces as I pull the shirt away.

"Sorry." I mumble, my cheeks pink.

"I'll go and get some soothing lotion." Mum says, turning to leave the room.

"I'll get it!" I say, spinning on my heel and racing out of the room.

"No, you can stay here with Peeta." My mother says, pulling me by the arm back into the room.

"Mum!" I hiss.

"Katniss!" She replies. I give her my best scowl and retreat back into the room. I can see that Peeta is hiding a smirk. I lean against the cupboard sitting against the wall. Peeta raises his eyebrows at me. I roll my eyes. I can't look at Peeta. I thought he was mesmerising with his shirt on. But without? Those years of lifting heavy bags of flour have left his chest sculpted. I bite my lip and look down, feeling my cheeks redden.

After what seems like an eternity, my mother comes back in with a pot of cream. She rubs it into Peeta's shoulder and a minty smell fills the room.

"This will numb the pain." She says. She wipes her hands on a rag and unwraps the bandages. She wraps them around Peeta's shoulder. "There you go. You can put your shirt back on now."

"Thank you." Peeta says. Taking his shirt and pulling it back on one-handed.

"I'm going to start dinner." I say, standing and walking out of the room.

"Come and sit in the kitchen Peeta. It's warmer in there and you won't be alone." My mother says. Peeta follows me into the kitchen and sits beside Prim. I pull a rabbit from my game bag and begin chopping it in hard 'whacks' on the chopping board.

When dinner has finished cooking, I dish up the stew into four chipped enamel bowls and place them on the table.

"Primrose, do you want to go over your homework in the living room?" Mum asks. Prim grins up at me and nods, grabbing her bowl and exiting the room. I fight the urge to bang my head on the table.

"This is delicious." Peeta comments, putting another spoonful of food into his mouth. "You caught the rabbit, didn't you?"

"Yep." I nod. "Right through-"

"…The eye." Peeta finishes. "Every time." He says. I look up at him. He grins.

"You want some more?" I ask.

"I will if you will."

"Fine." I say, re-filling our bowls. Peeta laughs. "What?" I exclaim.

"Nothing, nothing." Peeta chuckles.

"Tell me Peeta." I say. "You're hiding something." Peeta sighs and places his hand over mine. I stiffen. Peeta rubs his thumb over my skin.

"Why wouldn't you look me in the eye when my shirt was off?" He asks, staring right at me. I can feel his gaze burning a hole in the side of my head.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"You know what I'm talking about Katniss." Peeta persists. "I mean, you were fine when your mother popped my shoulder back in."

"You were wearing a shirt." I mumble.

"And?"

"And… I'm not comfortable… with bodies, and blood, and injuries."

"Yet you can gut animals without a second thought." Peeta scoffs.

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

"It just is." I snap. The room falls silent. I scrape my spoon around the bowl- just to make some noise.

"Katniss?" Peeta asks after the long pause in our conversation.

"What?"

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"It's fine…"

"No, it isn't." Peeta says. I look up at him. "I shouldn't put you in the spotlight."

"Peeta. It's fine." I say, squeezing his hand. He smiles.

"I heard you and your Mum talking." He chuckles, a sly smile on his lips.

"When?"

"Today. Before you went to the Hawthorne house with the laundry." I exhale.

"Why weren't you asleep?" I ask. "You were asleep when I last saw you, before I went out."

"I'm a great actor." Peeta says. I pick up a rag sitting beside me and throw it at him. Peeta catches it.

"Hey!" I exclaim. "No fair!" Peeta laughs and I kick him lightly under the table.

"So you think I've got nice eyes, huh?" I stay silent, grinding my teeth. "And you like my laugh?"

"Don't flatter yourself." I hiss.

"Well, if it makes it any better, I think you've got pretty eyes too."

"And my laugh?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think I've heard it before." I grin. Peeta chews on a mouthful of bread and smirks at me. I look at the wall behind his head.

"So…" I start. "I'm guessing you heard about what went down with Gale?"

"Yeah…"

"It didn't mean anything." I stumble. "I've told Gale that I don't feel that way about him, that I didn't feel anything."

"I shouldn't have been listening in." Peeta remarks.

"Prim should've given you a stronger dosage of medicine." I retort. Peeta laughs. I find myself laughing along with him.

"And there we have it!" Peeta says. I pause.

"Have what?"

"I've finally heard you laugh!"

"And what's the verdict?"

"I like your laugh too."

**Aww! Romance! ;D Let me reassure you; they'll be more drama in the next chapter! Review if you liked it and give me suggestions if you have any! 3**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yassou! This is the tenth chapter of Sparks! (Does a happy dance) :D I hope you enjoy it!**

After a week of resting on our couch, Peeta finally decides that he isn't to live here without paying us back somehow.

"It's the least I can do." He says, sitting at the kitchen table. "I've been a burden to you, and I owe you for everything you've done for me."

"Peeta, it's been a delight having you here." Mum says, smiling over at the baker's son. "You don't owe us."

"I do." Peeta insists, looking between my mother, sister and myself.

"You're injured Peeta, you still need to recover."

"Then let me do something that won't… hurt me." Peeta says. "Please, let me help you in some sort of way."

"We don't need your help." I snap, Peeta's choice of words annoying me more than they really should.

"Katniss…" My mother warns, turning her head to look at me.

"I don't mean it in a charity sort of way, I mean it in a way that you've done something for me, so I should pay you back."

"No you don't." I add with a scowl.

"I do. Then we're equal." I groan and rest my head in my hands.

"Since it's obvious that you're not going to budge, maybe I can find something for you to do." My mother gives in.

"Come on Prim, we're going to school." I say, pushing my chair away, the legs scraping noisily over the floor.

"Katniss, make sure you bring Peeta's school work back." Mum instructs. "I don't want to be held responsible for him missing out on his education."

"Why bother?" I ask. "We don't learn anything."

"Katniss!" My mother says, shooting me a glare.

"Fine." I narrow my eyes and walk out the front door with Prim. I sigh as our house gets further and further away. Prim looks up at me.

"You shouldn't be so horrible to him."

"What do you mean?" I ask, staring ahead at the person walking in front of us.

"You know exactly what I mean." Prim says. "Peeta is trying to help us-"

"I don't want his help." I snap.

"… And all you do is throw everything back into his face! He's trying to repay us for helping him!"

"Prim." I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"That I don't want him to repay me. In any way. I hate owing people, and people owing me." I say, looking down at the ground and scuffing my heal into the dust.

"Does he owe you?"

"No."

"Do you owe him?" My sister asks. I glance at her and shrug my shoulders.

"No. I don't." I say finally. Prim raises an eyebrow. "I'll meet you by the tree at the end of the day." I say when we reach the school gates.

"Don't push him away." Prim says, shooting me a smile before running towards her friends. I push a strand of hair that's fallen in front of my eyes back behind my ear and sigh. The school bell rings. I head to class.

"How's Peeta?" Madge asks me as we walk towards the cafeteria later that day at lunch.

"He's fine. He's up and about now, and Mum says he'll be able to go back to his home possibly in a few days."

"It's a shame." Madge says, sitting down at our usual table.

"What is?" I ask.

"That Peeta is going back there."

"I know." I grimace. "He shouldn't go back to the person who hurt him in the first place."

"No, I mean it's a shame that he's not going to be living with you any more." Madge smiles at me. I frown. "Ever since you took him in, you've been smiling more. You care about him Katniss."

"What are you getting at?" I ask.

"Who was it that was freaking out when Peeta went missing? Who was in tears when they couldn't find him? Who went through all those pregnancy rumours with Peeta and stuck up for him?" I look down at my lap. "_You_ did Katniss. And I don't believe for one second that you don't care for him. In fact, I think your feelings for him and stronger for him every day."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." Madge says.

"I need to get Peeta's school work from Mr Markham." I say quietly, standing and walking away. I hear Madge run after me.

"Katniss! Listen to me!" She says. I slow down slightly. "Just think about how you feel. I'd hate for you to miss out."

"What would I miss out on?"

"Peeta." Madge answers. I bite my lip.

"Why do you suddenly care so much?" I ask.

"Because Peeta loves you." I freeze.

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?"

"He told me Katniss. He's loved you since he was five years old." Madge tells me. "Ask him yourself if you don't believe me."

"I can't just ask him something like that." I mumble.

"Sure you can!" Madge says enthusiastically. "And don't push him away. Don't push your feelings away because you're afraid of getting hurt." I turn to face Madge and sigh.

"You know that I consider you as a friend, don't you?" I ask. Madge smiles, tilting her head to one side.

"Yeah." She grins. We carry on walking.

I knock lightly on the door of Mr Markham's classroom and push the door open.

"Oh, Miss Everdeen!" Mr Markham says, ushering Madge and me forward. "Are you collecting Mr Mellark's work?"

"Yeah." I say, standing by the desk.

"Okay, here it is." The teacher says, handing me a blue folder filled with paper. "And can you tell him that he's missed his exam but he can take it when he gets back."

"Will do." I smile, taking the folder and heading back out of the classroom.

"What subject does he teach?" Madge asks me once we're in the corridor.

"Maths, I think." I say.

"That's an awful lot of school work." Madge comments, pulling the folder open. She rifles through the papers and then pauses, a frown on her face.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I think you've been given the wrong one.-" Madge tells me. "This one has maths worksheets in it, but it also has loads of drawings at the back."

Give it here, let me have a look." I say, taking the folder from my friend. I look through the sheets of equations until I find a dozen or so drawings and a small rectangular notebook at the back. "We should take it back. This doesn't look like the right one." I tell Madge. She nods and we head back the way we came.

"Sir, I think you've given us the wrong stuff." I say, holding the folder out at Mr Markham.

"No, that's the right one." The teacher says.

"But it's got loads of drawings in it." I say.

"Yeah, it's definitely Peeta's then. He's quite the doodler." Mr Markham says, pausing to take a sip of whatever is in his mug. "He's always drawing on the sides of his worksheets, and in his workbook."

"Oh, okay." I say quietly, retracting my arm.

"Tell Peeta that I hope he's feeling well." Mr Markham adds.

"Alright." I say, and Madge and I walk back into the corridor.

"Let me look at those!" Madge says, snatching the folder and running ahead, opening the folder as she runs. Suddenly she stops and I collide into her, my rubbery shoe soles skidding on the shiny floor. "These aren't just doodles, these are works of art!" Madge exclaims. I take the paper she's holding and taking a look.

"Bloody hell…" I breathe, my eyes widening. A picture of the sun setting over the mountains surrounding District 12, though in grey pencil, looks so vibrant that I feel that it's as good as any photograph. I can almost imagine the striking reds and oranges, the soft yellows and pinks, and the dark purples fading into the black night sky.

"How can people draw so well?" Madge asks, rifling through the folder. "This is amazing!"

"Wait, Madge, we shouldn't be looking through Peeta's stuff." I say.

"Katniss. If he really didn't want anyone to see this, he wouldn't leave this in his _maths _folder." Madge says, raising and eyebrow. I sigh and Madge grins, taking the rest of the drawing out.

Peeta has a talent, and an amazing one at that. He's drawn on scraps of paper the size of my palm, but filled those small spaces with sketches of District 12, capturing it's beauty with nothing by cheap paper and a pencil. I slide the pieces of paper back into the folder and move over to stand by Madge, our shoulders toughing as we stare at the notebook in Madge's hands. She turns the pages slowly, her mouth open in an 'o' as she stares. I've got the exact same expression plastered on my face.

"Katniss, look at this one." Madge whispers. In the centre of the page is a girl, her hair in a braid similar to mine, her head down as she kicks up dust from the ground.

"It's amazing how detailed he's gotten these." I say.

"You can't see it, can you?" Madge says.

"See what?" I ask, looked up at my friend.

"It's _you_."

"Nah, it's not." I say, shaking my head.

"Just look!" Madge says, grazing her fingers over the paper. "That braid is your braid. Those boots, they're yours."

"It must be someone else." I dismiss her thought. Madge turns the page.

"Yeah, that's obviously not you." She murmurs, a hint of sarcasm hiding under her disbelief as she points to another drawing.

This drawing is far more detailed than all the others, which seemed impossible until now. I reach out to the touch the page, but draw back at the last moment, not wanting to destroy Peeta's hard work. It's a drawing of a girl, looking out from the page over her shoulder. A thick glossy braid is over one shoulder, and her lips are slightly parted in a smile. Her cheekbones are well defined, and several strands of hair are flying in front of her face.

But it's her eyes that really stand out from the page. The Seam grey has been captured perfectly, thick eyelashes framing her eyes.

I find that I can't drag myself from staring into the grey pits of the girl's eyes. Her eyes hold shadows of grief and sadness, but there's a small light, a _spark,_that makes me feel like there is happiness in her life. Not much, but enough to light her eyes up. **  
**"That's… me!" I say, my eyes wide.

"It's you."

"But it can't be me. That girl is beautiful. She doesn't look like she's from the Seam!"

"Obviously he sees you in a different light."

"That's crazy."

"It's crazy that you don't see what this means." Madge says, looking up at me. "He loves you Katniss. You need to let the wall you've built up down and let him in."

"But if I do that I'll just get hurt. People will get hurt."

"Katniss, the last thing Peeta would do is hurt you." Madge says. She puts the book away, and hands it to me. I bite my lip. The bell rings and I look down.

"Come on, we don't want be late." I say. Madge groans and follows me into our last class of the day. I sit down at my desk and put the folder of Peeta's schoolwork into my bag.

At the end of the day, I wait under the only tree in the school playground for Prim. I watch all the students flood out of the school gates, laughing and joking with each other.

"Katniss!" Prim shouts excitedly. "Guess what we did in Mining Sciences today!"

"What did you do?" I ask.

"We started growing crystals from coal!" Prim says, her eyes wide.

"You did?" I ask, trying to act surprised, even though every student in the school has done that experiment before. "How did you do it?"

"Well, we smashed the coal up into pieces and then put it in bowls, and then mixed it with some stuff, like water and salt." Prim grins up at me. "The teacher said we'd have crystals in a week or two!"

"That's cool." I say. "I bet it'll look really pretty."

"I hope so." Prim says as we walk through the school gates.

"Anything else happen today?" I ask her, my school bag swinging by my side.

"Um… Marty Flack tried to take the coal we were given home. He hid it in his pockets."

"Did he get told off?"

"No, the teachers didn't see. He just told them that they forgot to give him any." Prim frowns. I shrug, staring ahead. Marty Flack is the Tanner's son. Why would he be stealing coal? The Merchants have enough wood to power their fuel their fireplaces and ovens, so why would he need coal?

Once we reach our house, my nose twitches at a wonderful aroma wafting through the air. Prim looks up at me, her eyes twinkling

"What is that?" She asks, pushing opening the door.

"I have no idea." I tell her. "But it smells delicious." We dump our shoes by the door and go into the kitchen. Prim and I stand in the doorway, and I have to fight the urge to grin when I see the scene in front of me. Peeta and my mother, dancing in the middle of the room to the crackly music of an antique radio my mother kept on the mantle piece as a reminder of her old life as a Merchant. Peeta spins my mother around and she laughs. Prim giggles.

"Oh! Hey guys!" Peeta says, looking over at the sound of my sister's laughter.

"Primrose, Katniss!" My mother smiles in our direction.

"Care to join in?" Peeta asks. Prim runs forward, leaving her bag on the kitchen table, and takes my mother's hands. They spin around the room, their golden hair spinning out into the air as they twirl.

"What is this?" I ask, putting my bag beside Prim's.

"It's music Katniss. And dancing." Peeta says sarcastically, motioning to the radio with his good arm.

"Oh, ha-ha." I say, narrowing my eyes.

"I just thought it would be fun." Peeta says. "Now, are you going to be boring or let me have this dance?" I let out an over-dramatic sigh but walk forward. Peeta bows. I grin and curtsy slightly. Peeta places his hands tenderly on my hips – I try not to blush- and I wrap my arms around his neck. We move in a small circle, and then Peeta spins me out into a circle. I laugh as he pulls me back towards his chest.

"How did you learn to dance so well?" I ask him.

"My mother told me that the way to a woman's heart was by dancing." He says.

"How cheesy." I remark.

"I know." He laughs.

"I'd say the way to a woman's heart is with cake. And cheese buns." I say, looking down at my feet.

"Cake and cheese buns?" Peeta asks.

"Yup." I nod.

"Do you remember getting cheese buns when you were little?"

"Yeah, my father would take me every Friday after school and we'd split one."

"You pushed me over, when you ran into the shop at high speed."

"I'm sorry Peeta." I say.

"And it was more than once." He chuckles.

"Really Peeta, I'm sorry." I say, my cheeks burning.

"Don't be. It was ages ago." He smiles.

"What is that smell?" I ask.

"Cheese buns." Peeta smirks.

"What?" I ask. "How did you do that? We have hardly any grain, and the cheese ran out."

"Prim made some this morning. Told me that you liked cheese buns." My mouth drops open.

"You're welcome!" Prim calls to me from the other side of the room. I glare at her, but a smile stays on my lips.

"I want to see these cheese buns then!" I say, pulling away and putting my hands on my hips. "And they better be good."

"I'm a baker. Of course they'll be good." Peeta smirks. I roll my eyes. Prim and I clear the table and Peeta places a tray of cheese buns in the middle of the table. Prim sits down eagerly, swaying slightly in excitement. Mum sits beside Prim and I sit beside Peeta. Everyone pauses for a second, and then Prim caves, grabbing a cheese bun and taking a bite. Peeta and I exchange glances and then dig in along with my mouth. I sink my teeth into the bun and my shoulders relax. The bread is still made from the cheap grain we normally use, but the melted goats cheese on top makes it taste a hundred times better than it normally would.

"This is… amazing." I mumble through a mouthful of bread and cheese.

"How can you make bland bread taste so nice?" Mum asks, staring up at Peeta with wide eyes. Peeta raises an eyebrow and shrugs.

"I added some basil… Not much." He says.

"Well I've never tasted anything so nice." Prim says, her grin stretching from ear to ear.

"I'm glad you like it." Peeta says. We eat in silence, savouring the taste of this meal.

It's later that evening when Prim is in bed and Mum is having a bath that I decide to thank Peeta.

"Thank you." I say, putting a hand on his arm as he hands me the last plate for me to wash up in the sink.

"For what?" Peeta asks.

"For everything. I haven't seen my mother, or Prim for that matter, smile so much for a long time." I say. "My mother was _laughing. _Laughing!"

"I'm glad I could help." Peeta says. I move closer and wrap my arms around him. He stiffens for a second, but then moves his arm around me as well. I breathe in his scent, closing my eyes and smiling. "I'm not the only one trying to help here." Peeta says, his voice rumbling beneath my ear as I rest my head on his chest. "You're fighting all the time. For Prim. For your mother."

"Don't big me up. I'm not like that."

"You are."

"I'm not. Honestly." I bring my soaking wet hands; dripping with suds, up to Peeta's face cover his cheeks in soap and water. He closes his eyes and grins.

"I was wrong. You are a complete devil." He says, dunking the dishrag into the sink and wiping it over my face. I gasp, step back and scoop a handful of water up before flinging it at Peeta. He does the same. I run outside, barefooted and only in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I step out onto the house porch and find Peeta following me, the empty tub of dirty water in his hands.

"What are you going to do with that?" I ask him, one hand stretch out in front of me in a defensive manoeuvre.

"I'm just watering the plants." Peeta says. I look around at the dry cracked earth surrounding my house, which hasn't seen rain for almost two months.

"Which plants?" I ask. "The hydrangeas or tulips?"

"I'd say you're more of a dandelion."

"A weed?"

"Yeah, but a beautiful one at that. A flower that is beautiful but also hardy. " Peeta grins. "I'd say it's my favourite type of plant." He looks pointedly at me. I look down at my feet. It all comes rushing back to me.

I couldn't work up the courage to walk up to Peeta and thank him for the bread. Ask him how I could repay him. It seemed so simple. But every time I thought I could do it, I looked up and saw him- standing in the corridors, sitting with his friends at lunch, laughing in the playground- and then I would turn away. And then, the day after he gave me the bread, I caught his eye and smiled at him. Just a small smile, it barely reached my eyes, but Peeta saw it. He smiled back and looked away, but not before I saw the bright red welt on his cheek.

* * *

_That touched something deep inside me. I hated that he had taken a beating for me. It also meant that I owed him for much more than I first thought. And then I saw it, the first dandelion of the spring growing by the wall. I picked it and knew how I was going to survive. I knew how we were going to survive._

* * *

I'm brought out of my thoughts when Peeta –with one arm- dumps the tub of water over my head. My eyes widen and my mouth drops open in a grin of disbelief. I look up at Peeta, water dripping off the end of my braid and down my back, my clothes soaked.

"So that was what you were going to do." I say. My eyes flicker to the pail of water about a foot to my left. The water is freezing, left outside for Lady to drink, chilled in the night air.

"It was a good idea, wasn't it?" Peeta grins. I look behind him and scream, pointing in terror at the shadowy street behind him.

"Oh my god!" I shout. Peeta whirls around and I grab the bucket.

"What?" Peeta says, stepping towards me, still facing away. "What's wrong Kat-" He's cut off when he turns his head to face me and I chuck the water into his face. He coughs and splutters for a few seconds and then looks up at me.

"Karma." I say, narrowing my eyes.

"Well played my friend, well played." He says.

"Katniss! Peeta!" Mum hisses, peering out of the door. "Get inside! And stop making so much noise!"

"Sorry." I say.

"Sorry Mrs Everdeen." Peeta says sheepishly.

"And why are you all wet?" Mum asks, staring between the two of us. Peeta and I exchange glances and burst out laughing. I run up the creaky porch steps and slip inside, Peeta following close behind. Peeta and I end up sitting on the floor in front of the roaring fire, drying off our clothes.

"I got your school work from Mr Markham." I say, pulling the blue folder out of my school bag and returning to sit beside Peeta.

"Yay…" Peeta says sarcastically. I grin. He pulls out some of the papers and looks them over. A loose sheet slides out onto the floor and I grab it before the fire can singe it. It's a picture of a dandelion. "Oh, sorry." Peeta stammers, taking the paper from me, his cheeks reddening.

"No, no. You're a wonderful artist." I say. "The drawings are amazing, so lifelike." I pause and look down. It's my turn to blush.

"You looked through my drawings?" Peeta asks. I look up. He doesn't seem angry. In fact, he seems embarrassed, worried.

"I'm sorry…" I say. "But Madge commented on the amount of work in the folder, and we looked through it and saw the drawings." Peeta grimaces, and looks down. "I know we shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Peeta whispers.

"You have a gift Peeta." I say, squeezing his hand. His blue eyes flicker to my hand on his. "You shouldn't be embarrassed. What's to be embarrassed about?"

"Which other drawings did you see?" He asks, finally looking up at me, his mouth in a line.

"Oh… If you mean the one of me… Yeah. We did." I admit.

"Are you annoyed? Creeped out?" Peeta asks, his eyes shimmering.

"If anything, I'm confused."

"Why?"

"Why would you draw me? Of all people?" I ask. "You could draw anything. Anyone!" Peeta lets out a short laugh and runs his hand through his hair.

"You're fun to draw." He says. "That one picture in the back of my maths book… I had to draw it. You were smiling, and I never saw you smile very often."

"Where was that?" I ask. "Where was I in that drawing?"

"You were at school." He says. "Picking up Prim." I nod. It makes sense.

"Prim is one of the only people who can make me smile." I say softly.

"I've noticed." Peeta says.

"You have?"

"I notice a lot of things Katniss." Peeta says. I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Well, don't be worried. I'm not freaked out." I say. "I'm flattered."

"Good. I'd hate to push you away." Peeta says, wrapping an arm around waist.


	11. Chapter 11

**HEY GUYS! This is the eleventh chapter of SPARKS! (As you can probably tell). I hope you enjoy it! :D I wrote this listening to 'Open your eyes' by Snow Patrol, and though I normally don't listen to Snow Patrol, I thought this song was suitable for this chapter in particular. **

* * *

My father once told me, when I was very young, that love makes you feel like a child in every way possible. I don't know why that was one of the things that I remember so clearly. It's just stuck with me.

And, after all these years, I finally understand what he was talking about.

I agree with him, 100%.

Peeta returned home two days after I fell asleep in his arms by the fire. I didn't want him to go. Prim didn't want him to go. Mum didn't want him to go.

I sit on a tree stump and pluck the grey and brown feathers from a wild turkey and remember the day Peeta left.

**_-Flashback-_**

"_Katniss, can I…err…talk to you?" Peeta asks, sitting down opposite me at the kitchen table._

"_Sure." I say, looking up from my schoolwork and smiling. His arm is still in a sling, and his ribs still cause him pain, but his face, hand and shoulder have recovered well. The bruises on his face have yellowed, and the deep cut that ran down the side of his face has healed over, leaving a faint scar on his soft skin. A permanent reminder of what his own _**mother**_did to him. That scar will always be there for people to question, to judge him for and remind him of what happened every single day. _

"_I think it's time for me to go back to the bakery." Peeta says, staring at me and judging my reaction. "You've all been so good to me here, and I've recovered. My parents need my help at the bakery."_

"_Oh…" I say, biting my lip. _

"_But Katniss, please don't take this the wrong way." Peeta's eyes are wide. "I don't want to leave, but I don't want to stay here when I can be working at the bakery." He puts his hand over mine. I stare at it, startled. _

"_No, Peeta. I understand." I say quietly._

"_You're upset." I sigh. _

"_It's just that… you know…" I trail off. _

"_Tell me what's bothering you." Peeta tells me. I take a deep breath._

"_You can't go back there." I mumble. "Not after what she did to you." Peeta looks down. "You don't deserve that. She doesn't deserve a son like you."_

"_It's okay Katniss. I'll be alright." _

"_No you won't."_

"_I will."_

"_Peeta," I whisper, taking his hand in both of mine. "Please don't go back."_

"_Where else am I going to go?" Peeta asks, his eyes fixed on his hand in mine. I shrug._

"_Anywhere but there." _

"_She's never loved me." Peeta admits. "Fen and Rye have always been her favourites."_

"_Don't say tha-"_

"_It's true. She wanted a girl, and she got me. I'm used to her… attitude towards me."_

"_But that's an awful thing to be used to." I say._

"_It's fine Katniss." Peeta says. I pause and pull my hands away, raising an eyebrow._

"_When are you going to tell my mother?" I ask. "Prim is going to be heartbroken."_

"_Katniss…"_

"_When are you going to tell them?"_

"_When they get back. I'll pack and go." Peeta leans back in his chair._

"_Fine." _

"_Katniss. I don't want you to be annoyed." _

"_I'm not annoyed." I retort._

"_Yeah, you are." Peeta says._

"_No, I'm not." I mimic his tone of voice._

"_You are Katniss!" Peeta raises his voice and my shoulders slump. "You are." He adds quietly._

"_I'm going hunting." I say, pushing my chair away and standing. "When I get back, I want you to be gone. I'll tell Prim and Mum myself."_

"_But I-_

"_Just go Peeta. You don't have to stay here any longer." I walk towards the door and pull on my boots and jacket. "You can go back to your comfy Merchant life and forget this ever happened." And with that I storm out of the house, slamming the door behind me. _

_I only let my tears flow freely once I was behind the fence._

That was yesterday.

True to my demands, Peeta was gone when I got back, an apology on my lips. But it was too late. The boy with the bread was gone. I had pushed him away. I had pushed away Peeta, the only person I felt I could truly confide in. Sure, I could confide with Gale, but it wasn't the same as it was with the baker's son. When Gale kissed me, it simply made this entire situation worse.

Warm salty tears begin to trickle down cheeks and I have to wipe my face with the back of my hand. A downy feather from the undercoat of the bird sticks to my cheek and a flick it off, watching it float down to the leaf-covered ground.

When I came home and found that Peeta was gone, a tray of cheese buns sitting on the stove with a towel thrown over them to protect them from flies and cats alike, I didn't believe it. I dropped my game bag on the table and ran though the house. Three times through five rooms.

Once I had finally accepted that Peeta was gone, I sat at the kitchen table and cried. Cried for a half hour before wiping my tears from my cheeks and preparing dinner.

Telling Prim was not easy. She was surprised, and asked a lot of questions. My mother, on the other hand, kept her face a mask. She asked only one question.

Why did you push him away?

I take a deep shuddering breath and blink several times to clear my eyes. I add the plucked wild turkey to my game bag and stand, brushing the feathers from my trousers and walking down a familiar trail through the forest. I freeze at the sound of someone cursing from behind the bushes.

"Gale?" I ask, pushing through the brambles.

"Hey Catnip." He says, staring up at me, his hands entangled in the thin wire he uses in his traps.

"You want some help?" I ask, fighting the urge to laugh. Gale never gets stuck in his own traps.

"Uh, yeah." Gale says.

"How did you get stuck?"

"I'm not sure. I think I cut the wire too short." My friend admits. I crouch down and use a pair of small silver scissors to cut Gale's calloused hands free. "Thanks." He says, sitting back on his butt once I've cut him free.

"I could've left you there you know." I say, a smirk on my lips. "Trapped in the forest."

"I don't doubt. At all." Gale grins. An uneasy silence falls over us. "So… How have you been?"

"Fine, thanks." I mumble. "You?"

"Have you been crying?" Gale asks, ever the observant one.

"Wha- No." I say, dabbing at my eyes.

"Yeah you have." Gale says.

"It's nothing." I say.

"What did he do to you?" Gale asks me, his grey eyes wild. "Has he hurt you? Forced you to do something?" He asks, not letting me answer.

"No-" I begin. Gale stands up.

"I'm going to kill him. What has he done?" Gale asks. "Tell me Catnip and I'll sort him out."

"Sit down!" I snap, pulling him back onto the ground with a thump. "Just listen to yourself will you?"

"What?" Gale asks, holding his hands up in a defensive manner.

"Peeta hasn't done anything to me. I told him to get lost and he actually left." I trail off.

"Well… Now you can get on with your life without the intrusion of a Merchant kid."

"But I want him in my life." I say. Gale raises an eyebrow. "He can't go back to that house Gale. He can't. I'm scared for him."

"Oh."

"His mother isn't going to like that he's been helped by Seam people."

"Yeah." Gale mumbles. I sigh and look down. "I'm sorry I kissed you." Gale adds.

"I'm sorry if I led you on." I say, my cheeks pink.

"It's my fault."

"Yeah…" I say. Gale smiles. I punch him playfully on the shoulder. "Come here." I say, leaning towards Gale. He shuffles closer to me. I wrap my arms around him. "You're still my friend."

"Good." Gale grins. I inhale his woody scent. It's so different from Peeta's. Peeta smells like freshly baked bread, icing and warmth. Gale smells of the forest, fresh air and the special roots Hazelle uses to wash the Hawthorne clothes. The hug lasts longer than I'm comfortable with, but Gale seems to be happy.

"I've got to go." I say. "Places to go, people to see."

"I'll see you around then?"

"I'll see you around." I say, giving Gale one last smile before walking away.

Once I reach the fence, I slip under it and am instantly basked in the golden-orange light of the sun setting. I smile and close my eyes, feeling my skin tingling. When I re-open my eyes, I have to fight the urge to cry again.

The sunset is beautiful. Peeta would have loved it. He would've sketched it on a scrap of paper, or in his notebook. I shake my head and head home. I prepare dinner in silence. But tears continue to run down my cheeks.

The next day…

Everything reminds me of Peeta. Beautiful things? Peeta would sketch them. Baking? Peeta. The sofa? Peeta. The fireplace? Peeta. School? Peeta.

Peeta. Peeta. Peeta.

It's like a rhyme, repeating over and over in my mind, 24/7.

At school I ignore Peeta. Pretend he doesn't exist. In the corridors I catch his eye but don't react. He smiles at me during lessons but I blank it out.

"You need to talk to him." Madge tells me as we work during History. I glance over my shoulder at Peeta. He's sitting back in his chair, spinning his pencil in a circle on the desktop. His expression is downcast. I turn my attention back to Madge, my heart clenching. "Wasn't it only a few days ago that you were practically in love with him?"

"I'm not in love with him. I never was." I mutter.

"Yeah you were. You still are." Madge smiles. "What are you afraid of?" I look down and bite my lip.

"I yelled at him. I told him that he could go back to his life as a Merchant and forget that he ever associated with us." Madge blinks. "And now, I don't know how he could possibly forgive me. How would any sane person forget that?"

"Peeta isn't exactly sane." Madge says with a knowing smile. I shuffle the papers on our desk. "You want to know what I think?"

"Shoot." I say, closing my workbook.

"I think that you should go up to him and say what's really on your mind. Make sure he knows how you're feeling. And then he'll at least know that you didn't mean it, even if he doesn't forgive you."

"I want him to forgive me."

"I don't think that he was ever mad at you." Madge murmurs.

"Whatever…"

"No! Seriously, just look at him!" Madge says, looking at Peeta. I turn my head in his direction. "He's miserable."

"He's angry."

"Upset that you aren't in his life."

"Annoyed that I yelled at him."

"Filled with a sense of longing."

"Filled with pure hatred."

"Wishing he wasn't away from you."

"He's in my class." I roll my eyes.

"Talk to him!" Madge encourages me. I shrug my shoulders. "I'll make you a deal. If you don't talk to him, I will."

"How long do I have?"

"Until the end of the day." Madge stretches out her hand. I scrub my face with my hands and groan. But I give in.

"You have a deal." Madge grins.

"I'll bet you a giant batch of strawberries that he won't take me back."

"I'll bet you a bag of coins."

"Now _you _have a deal." I shake Madge's hand. She laughs and packs her books into her bag. I stand and pick up my bag from the floor. I straighten up and step back, into the aisle between the desks, and into Peeta.

"Oh, hey Katniss." He says, smiling hesitantly up at me.

"Oh." I say, my mouth hanging open. Madge gestures wildly behind Peeta's back. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever." Peeta mutters, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking away.

"Oh Katniss!" Madge sighs, throwing her hands up into the air.

"What?" I exclaim. "I was put on the spot, and he walked away. Not me."

"You should've gone after him!"

"He doesn't care anymore. He said 'whatever' and then walked off."

"I saw." Madge says sarcastically. I walk towards the teacher's desk and place my homework from a few nights ago in the wire basket. I walk out of the classroom, Madge close behind, her hair swishing as she walks swiftly after me.

"I just want to go to lunch and forget this whole thing." I tell her.

"You've got one more lesson after lunch." Madge grins. "It looks like I'm getting those strawberries."

"Sure. I'll get you those strawberries." I mutter.

"You'll figure something out." Madge says as we sit down at the table.

"I doubt it." I sigh, resting my head in my hands.

"He's looking at you again." Madge whispers, leaning forward, one hand covering her mouth.

"He isn't."

"He is. Besides, you can't even see. You aren't looking in his direction."

"He's _glaring _at me." I hiss.

"Nope, defiantly staring at you." Madge grins. I turn my head and glance at Peeta over my shoulder. I realise, my cheeks burning, that Peeta is indeed staring at me. I feel tingle run down my spine as Peeta's deep blue eyes connect with mine and look away. Madge raises an eyebrow. "I told you so."

"I don't know why he'd even want to look at me." I mutter.

"He likes you Katniss. Likes you a lot."

"I know-"

"And don't say that you don't like him back." Madge interrupts me. I look down at the apple in my hand.

"I don't know what to do, Madge." I say quietly. "I'm afraid, of what I feel for him. Do you think he'll ever take me back?" Madge begins to answer but is cut off.

"Of course I will."

"Huh?" I look up, my heart pounding. Gale stands by our table. I fight the urge to sigh and drop my head down onto the table. "Oh, hey Gale."

"Hey Catnip. Undersee." Gale greets us.

"Was there something you wanted?" I ask him when he says nothing else.

"Oh, yeah. I was wondering if you would be able to meet up Sunday morning instead of Saturday afternoon." Gale smiles down at me. I fidget in my seat. "That would be way more convenient for me."

"Yeah, sure. That's fine. No problem." I stumble over my words.

"Thanks Catnip." Gale grins and slings his bag onto his other shoulder. "I'll see you later then?"

"Sure. See you later." I say smiling up at him.

"_Catnip_?" Madge hisses the second Gale is gone. "Come on Katniss. _Catnip_?"

"Oh give it a rest… It's just a nickname he has for me." I roll my eyes.

"Oh, and what is your nickname for him?" Madge asks. "What about me?"

"Gale doesn't have a nickname." I mutter. "But I'm going to give you one in a minute if you don't shut up." Madge laughs lightly but falls silent. It doesn't last for long.

"Did you see Peeta's face?"

"Give up Madge." I sigh. "Please."

"Of course you didn't. You Gale was blocking your view of him." Madge continues, completely ignoring me.

"Stop talking." I say.

"He looked really annoyed… Angry even. Defiantly jealous."

"Madge!" I say, throwing my apple core at my friend. It bounces off her forehead and she glares at me. "Peeta wasn't looking at me. At all."

"Fine, don't listen." Madge sneers, but a grin is on her lips.

* * *

It's the end of the day. Peeta kept to his side of the cafeteria at lunch, and was in a different class for the last lesson. I've lost the bet.

And most likely Peeta.

"I'm sorry Katniss." Madge says as we walk out of our last lesson and into the corridors. Students are walking about, lockers slamming loudly as they escape from the confines of school. "This bet was stupid. It doesn't forbid you from talking to Peeta and seeing how he feels."

"It's useless Madge. I give up." I say, pulling open my locker door.

"Oh…" Madge says. "I don't think you should give up just yet."

"He hates me. It's obvious." I say, turning and shutting my locker door. Peeta stands beside Madge, his eyes wide. "Peeta!" I say, glancing between Madge and the baker' son.

"I'll leave you two alone to sort this out." Madge excuses herself, walking backwards a few steps and giving me a nod of encouragement. I glare at her. She grins and walks away, leaving Peeta and I in a very awkward situation.

"Peeta, I just wanted to-"

"I hope that I'm not being-" Peeta and I both begin to speak at the same time. "Sorry, you go first." Peeta says, kicking the ground with his heel.

"Oh boy…" I breathe. "Okay, um… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn't have told you to get lost. Or shouted at you for anything." I finger the end of my braid. "I just didn't want you to leave… or go back there." Peeta doesn't answer. "How is it? Back home?"

"It's alright." Peeta mumbles. I give him a pointed look.

"Alright? Really? So you're telling me that your mother was completely okay with you being helped by us?"

"Well, she didn't exactly know that I was at your house until I came back and she demanded to know where I had been." Peeta comments.

"And?"

"And she got angry. But I stood up for myself. It's nothing."

"Then why are you limping?" I ask. Peeta sighs.

"You notice everything?" Peeta asks. I shrug my shoulders, eyes narrowed, demanding an answer. "I fell over and hurt my ankle." Peeta explains.

"Did you fall, or is there more to that?" I persist.

"Drop it will you?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore." Peeta tells me. "It's just a dull ache now."

"I'll get you something."

"I don't want your help." Peeta snaps, repeating what I had told him. I flinch.

"There's nothing wrong with asking for help." I mutter.

"I didn't exactly ask for your help." Peeta remarks, shoving one had in my pocket.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time I'll let you die Peeta." I say sarcastically, my hands balling into fists. "Would that be better? Maybe I should have just left you."

"Maybe you should've." Peeta says. "But you didn't." I look down. "Why? Why did you help me?"

"I don't know." I mutter, my heart racing. "I don't like people being injured."

"Yet you live in District 12." Peeta says. "The district the Capitol cares about the least, with people lying in the streets and dieing _every single_ _day_." Peeta takes a small step toward me. "How do you cope?"

"Stop it." I say, tears collecting in the corners of my eyes.

"Tell me." Peeta retorts.

"I've got to go." I whisper. "I'm sorry Peeta. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel upset, or angry, or confused." I shoot him one last smile and turn to walk away, down the corridor and towards the entrance of school and back home where I'll undoubtedly curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep over the baker's son. The boy with the bread.

"Katniss, please wait." Peeta says, grabbing my hand. I freeze and turn, tears leaking out onto my cheeks. "Please don't cry…"

"Let go Peeta." I say, yanking my hand from his and turning, wiping my cheeks with my fingers and fleeing. I jog down the steps.

"Katniss! How did it go?" Madge asks me.

"It went terrible. He hates me." I sob. Madge's face falls. "I'm going home." I say. I turn and walk away, fighting the urge to drop to my knees and cry my heart out.

I realise, with my heart aching, that I've grown to love Peeta. After all this time. After all we've been through together.

I love Peeta Mellark.

And Peeta Mellark hates me.

I'm just outside the school gates when a familiar voice shouts my name.

"Katniss!" I turn and see Peeta standing at the top of the school steps. He sees me and runs, swerving past groups of pupils towards me. I notice that several people are now staring at us. "Please Katniss, just answer my question." Peeta pleads, his hair ruffled and eyes wide, coming to a stop about a meter away from me.

"What question?" I ask, my voice wobbling.

"Why did you help me?" I bite my lip.

"I don't know. I guess I helped you because you helped me. I don't like owing people."

"Do you really expect me to believe that that's the only reason you helped me?"

"I suppose so."

"Well, I don't." Peeta says. "You can trust me Katniss. I trust you."

"Okay." I say, taking a deep breath. "I helped you because I don't like owing people. I helped you because I saw you everyday and _knew_ what was happening and _still_ didn't do anything to help you." I exhale. "I helped you because after you saved me from Cray that night, when you could have gone back into the bakery and moved on. Because after that night I realised how good a person you really are. Because you made me feel welcomed, and loved, and happy." I run my hand through my hair, tears flowing freely now. Half the school is listening. There's a sudden rumble of thunder and the grey clouds above open, rain drops plummeting towards the dry ground, mixing with my tears. It "I helped you because I didn't know how to survive without you. I helped you, Peeta Mellark, because I had fallen in love with you. But back then, I wasn't brave enough to admit it." Peeta stares at me.

"You-" He begins.

"You've got your answer." I say, turning and running away. I can still hear people shouting at Peeta, telling him to go after me. But as I listen, tears blurring my vision, I find that I can't hear the sound of Peeta's footsteps coming after me. I run, over the dusty ground that is quickly becoming a soggy mess, my hair and clothes completely drenched. I've reached the cut between the Merchant part of the district and the Seam.

I cry out in surprise when someone grabs me and spins me around.

"You love… me?" Peeta asks. I nod, my eyes wider than they've ever been. How did he catch me? I couldn't hear him. Peeta stands before me, rainwater from his hair dripping into his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid." I whisper.

"Don't be Katniss." Peeta says, his eyes filled with something so sincere it makes me feel like my heart is being split in two. "Don't ever be afraid with me."

And then, when I'm preparing to run away, Peeta does something that I'm not expecting.

He pulls me into him and presses his lips to mine.

I freeze for half a second before winding my arms around his neck and melting into the kiss I've been waiting for. Peeta wraps his arms around me, one hand on the back of my neck, twisting in my dark hair, the other on the small of my back, pressing me closer to him.

His lips are soft and gentle against mine, but are urgent, passionate and filled with love. I kiss him back with an equal amount of enthusiasm, ignoring the loud wolf-whistles of some of the people walking home from school around us. I ignore the rain that is trickling down my back, over our faces. I ignore everything that worries me. I let my walls down and let Peeta in.

Peeta finally pulls away from the kiss of the century breathless, a huge grin on his lips. I place my hands on his chest. I let out a nervous yet joy-filled laugh and kiss Peeta again. I pull away and bite my lip.

"I've been waiting for so long for that." I whisper.

"Me too." Peeta laughs. I kiss him lightly. I can't get enough of him. "I love you Katniss." Peeta says, kissing my nose.

"I love you too."

"So much."

"More than I ever thought possible." I agree. I grin and put my arms around his neck and kiss him once again.

"Do you forgive me?"

"You have nothing to be forgiven for."

"Even?" Peeta asks, his eyes shining.

"Even. Definitely even." I smile.

"You want to get out of the rain?"

"It's a bit cold." I grin. Peeta takes my hands and spins me around in a circle, our feet splashing in the puddles of water, raindrops peppering our faces. I open my mouth and stick my tongue out, tasting the rain. Peeta slips his waterproof leather jacket off and slips it over my shoulders. I inhale the scent. Peeta takes my hand and I lean my head against his chest.

"Thank you Peeta."

"For what?"

"For making me start to believe that there was such a thing as love." I smile. Peeta looks down at me and kisses me again. He cradles my face in his hands.

"Thank you Katniss." Peeta says.

"For what?" I repeat.

"For saving me." Peeta says. I fight the urge to burst out crying.

"We saved each other." I say.

And then we walk away, hand in hand, drenched in rainwater. I can form one clear though through the haze of love I feel for Peeta.

_I owe Madge a hell of a lot of strawberries._

* * *

**That's it folks! The end of Sparks.**

**Please don't cry. **

**Because then I might. ;)**

**You know what they say; all good things come to an end! I'd like to say two things. **

**1) THANK YOU, to all of you. To those who have reviewed every chapter, who have followed this story, who have favourited and supported me in writing this! This is the first Fanfic I've ever written, and I was terrified at first. I was sure that no one would read it. Or like it. But I was wrong! So thank you, everyone. **

**2) I have a new story that I will be posting in the next 2 days! So check it out and tell me what you think. I hope that it's a good idea and not just something that I've over thought.**

**THANKYOU EVERYONE- (I've sent you a box of virtual chocolates).**

Goodbye for now,

**WritingForHugs**

**(Hugs appreciated)**


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